Gensokyo's Ambivalent Love
by furude20
Summary: Ever since Koishi fight Reimu at Moriya Shrine, she have a new goal but all her attempts to achieve it fail. On her last try, Koishi goes to a school. Meanwhile, an old enemy emerge that causes Koishi to find herself embroil in a big family affair with her new friend, Flandre Scarlet, which their sisters have hide from them for many decades. Post-Touhou 15 Story.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello readers! This is my first fanfiction story I ever written! I want to try writing fanfiction of something I love that is Touhou and Kantai Collection.**

 **This story comprises of many characters from various Touhou games, though our dear main characters are the one listed above.**

 **There may be slight minor changes in terms of the events happened in the games but nothing much to affect the whole sequence of events occurring in canon.**

 **STORY SUMMARY:** **Ever since Koishi fight Reimu at Moriya Shrine, she have a new goal but all her attempts to achieve it fail. On her last try, Koishi goes to a modern school. Meanwhile, an old enemy emerge that causes Koishi to find herself embroil in a big family affair with her new friend, Flandre Scarlet, which their sisters hide from them for many decades. Post-Touhou 15 Story.**

 **~Youmu2hu**

 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

* * *

Magic. Youkai. Humans. All of this existed together in a small area known as Gensokyo. The living beings within it were by themselves unique to the modern world outside of it.

Nothing particularly big and eventful had happened for a few years ever since that incident with a goddess of Hell. That was what everybody thought of at first glance. However, for a particular female youkai, things were going to be different from then on for her life, at least that was what she hopes for.

She was a satori, a rare species of youkai that supposedly have mind reading abilities. But that was all in the past. Currently, her abilities have changed.

She was called by the name of Koishi Komeiji, or her prominent title, the Closed Eyes of Love.

Koishi lived together with her older sister, Satori Komeiji, who was also a Satori and the mistress of the mansion they live in, the Palace of the Earth Spirits. It was located in the Underworld in Former Hell, and for a long time, they rarely ventured above ground. Thus, Koishi found herself in absolute shocked when she went up after a certain incident, where a hell raven, Utsuho Reiuji, decided on a plan to rule the world. But that was eventually stopped by none other than the red shrine maiden, Reimu Hakurei.

Gensokyo was mainly the same after the Hakurei Border was created and it was only a few years after that incident with the goddess of Hell that Gensokyo undergone modernisation, at least partially.

For whatever actual reason that was not been told, Reimu and the legendary youkai, Yukari Yakumo agreed to share and imported outside world technology into Gensokyo, causing rapid but partial modernisation. Humans and youkai residents alike were skeptical of why they did that though there were many theories and rumors as to why suddenly, these 2 beings who were never into the idea of modernising Gensokyo, decided to do so now. Until recently, telephone networks never existed, modern houses started sprout all over Gensokyo and they even made an actual modern school. One where youkai and humans could coexist and gain knowledge. Though what was being thought were not science but rather magic in Gensokyo since Yukari have explicitly stated that she would not want to influence and introduce science to Gensokyo and let it remained for what it already was for the past hundred years or so.

This was where Koishi comes in. Having to stay in the Underworld for so long and rarely goes out, she was very curious to explore the new Gensokyo. But what motivated her the most was something else. It happened right after an incident mainly between her and Reimu at the Moriya Shrine, located at the top of the Youkai Mountain.

Koishi, as stated by the title, have closed her mind reading abilities, hence as a consequence, she lacked emotions and was only driven by her subconsciousness. But that was not the worst of all she had. It was a decision she regretted a lot. She felt regretful and depressed when she found out the biggest side effect that she had, but all this was only being felt after she gained back some of her emotions and normal behavior later. Nobody could see her unless she decided to. Even that take a lot of magical power in her. But the worse of all, nobody could even remember her as soon as she went out of their view. Just that they knew she existed. People would just say in conversations about her as 'Satori's sister' or by her titles. No names or her appearance was hardly remembered. That was a consequence she believed that she would forever have with her for the rest of her life.

But with her lack of emotions during those moments, it did not bother her at all.

However, the fight with Reimu at the Moriya Shrine gave her new perspectives. She regretted closing her 3rd eye, and decided to pursue on a goal, and that was to meet new people. In particular, she wanted to have friends. But a few years of attempting to do so did not really get far, as her current abilities was what preventing her from what she wanted to do. It was an impossible goal to achieve. Eventually, even though she lacked emotions, her subconsciousness allowed her to show actions that mimic depression and frustration.

But there was some hope when the incident with Hata no Kokoro, a menreiki, occurred which resulted in more humans and youkai alike started to remember and recognised her if she decided to be seen. Yet, it also resulted in her gaining a bad reputation. They feared her power to read the deeper part of the mind. Her powers to manipulate the subconsciousness of others. It was a scary prospect for them, just like her sister, and the fact that she could still go unnoticed and forgotten by anyone if she decided to, made them more wary of her. Even if that was not her intention at all. They feared her more than Satori herself. The only good thing was that she recovered some of the human feelings and her former personality of a shy and quiet girl.

Furthermore, there was the fact that Koishi was one of those youkai who was able to at least tear half of the dress of what Reimu wore, leaving most of her body except the essential ones exposed. It also caused some deep injuries before Koishi was defeated in the end. Only few youkai could do get through that powerful shrine maiden that many always avoided, even among fellow humans.

That was why she was more determined to continue on to pursue her goal of meeting new people and have friends. She wanted to end this cycle of events that work too well against her. The one that resulted in her to be enveloped in loneliness. The fear that she felt from everyone. So much for closing her mind-reading abilities that came with such unexpected consequences.

Thus, welcome to the story of Koishi where she went to a school in her last attempt to achieve her goal. This was where she met her new friend Flandre Scarlet, among a few others.

Unexpectedly, this led to an old enemy to emerge that threatened the residents of Gensokyo, where these 2 found themselves confronting her and would be the ones to solve the upcoming incident. Koishi and Flandre also found themselves recalling their own past and the big family affair that have been kept secret by their own sisters for many decades.

This would be how Gensokyo returned its ambivalent love to these 2 beloved youkai.


	2. A Shaky Start

**Chapter 2: A Shaky Start**

* * *

Koishi was walking along a street at the edge of the Human Village. Even though it was just mostly humans that were near her, she was feeling extremely nervous. After all, today was not a normal day for her.

The satori cautiously followed the group of human teenagers that were in front of her, as she heard from their conversations that they were heading to the same destination as her. She hugged herself as she did not want to accidentally knocked or touched anyone.

 _When was the last time I felt this nervous?_ Koishi thought to herself.

Koishi Komeiji (こいし 古明地) with her most famous title, The Closed Eyes of Love. Having the appearance of a 10-year-old, ordinary humans would look at her as an ordinary young girl at first. But her other features would definitely made them think twice about confronting her. She have short, wavy, grey-greenish hair, with dark-green eyes. Her usual day wear consisted of a black hat with yellow ribbons, with her orange shirt and diamond blue buttons made her stood out a lot considering not many would wear such colours daily. Her skirt have a light flowery pattern, which made her look more normal, but her purple 3rd eye positioned above her heart which wrapped around her torso and attached to her ankles.

As Koishi followed the teenagers, she observed her surroundings. She was already expecting a lot of change from the last time she went here. It went beyond her what initially thought.

The satori was very impressed by how much outside humans have developed in the last 2 centuries. A mixture of traditional houses lined up along modern houses and restaurants, but it made her wonder how humans could get use to something so artificial. The concrete, as far Koishi could tell, irked her for some reason. Natural things were her preference.

After a few minutes of walking, the youkai arrived at her destination. She looked up, amazed at the new magnificent building of a typical modern school. She was standing at the school gate and at the concrete wall next to it that only covered the front of the school grounds, there were words carved out that read 'Gensokyo School'. This was where she wanted to go today.

Many humans and youkai were passing right by her, barely missing hitting her as Koishi was awestruck by the living beings that came in here. After all, who would have thought that someday, humans and youkai could coexist easily in this manner someday? That was something the satori could give credit to that red shrine maiden she met not so long ago as one of the guardians of this place.

This school was the only one of its kind. It was not like everyone could accept everything that have happened so far, but Koishi thought it was a great idea. At least she have a reason to make use of the school for her own goals.

Koishi felt more nervous after remembering her goals and quickly walked in through the black metal gates. She have not been noticed by anyone yet and she wanted to keep it that way. Despite her small and weak appearance, she knew that she would be still be treated similarly like some of the more bigger and dangerous-looking youkai than her.

As Koishi was deep in thought absorbing this new phenomena right in front of her, Koishi bumped into someone right in front of her, crushing her nose. It felt hard as the one whom she knocked pushed her back without any effort. Koishi stumbled and regained her balance.

The person in front of her was much taller, turned her body towards the satori and looked down.

"Sorry… um…" Koishi started.

"I didn't really expect you to come here, Satori's sister," the person sounded amazed.

Koishi recognised who this person was. It was Yuugi Hoshiguma, a youkai that was one of the Big Four of the Mountain. Yuugi recognised Koishi, since Yuugi saw her plenty of times at the Former Capital in the Underworld. They were considered acquaintances as far as their relationship went. But that was not what was concerning Koishi at the moment.

"Did she just said… she's Satori's sister?" Koishi heard people around her whispered.

Koishi's mood instantly became bad when what she dreaded the most was starting to occur.

She saw youkai and humans looked away from her quickly as soon as she made eye contact with her. They were even more surprise that she was the younger satori, which to everyone, considered even more dangerous. Everyone immediately kept a distance away from the duo, making a wide berth around Yuugi and Koishi.

Yuugi looked around, understanding the situation though having fun in her own way. "They really are scared of you. Looks like they believe the rumours. Don't worry… some are afraid of me too, especially the weak humans and fairies haha!" Yuugi boasted and laughed loudly.

Koishi did not join in her laughter. She would not blame Yuugi for mentioning her since it was not her fault, in her opinion. She blamed herself for letting down her guard as soon as she arrived in school instead.

 _At least not much as mine. You have no idea how it feels for not a single person at all to come within 10 meters of you,_ Koishi thought irritably.

Yuugi was quite right about herself. There were reasons to fear her. Being an oni, she possessed super strength more than any youkai species, so it was almost impossible for anyone to fight her in physical strength alone. She earned quite a big reputation herself, though she was known to be a somewhat friendly oni, a huge contrast to the person right in front of her.

"Let's go to class, Satori's sister," Yuugi placed her right hand on Koishi's back and pushed her hard, still mentioning her name loudly.

Koishi felt her strength which Yuugi lived up to, causing her to stumble on her walking. The satori pushed the hand away and walked beside the oni as they head towards the school building.

It was to no surprise to Koishi that the word of her arrival spread quickly. The fact that Yuugi was walking with her was not helping her situation any better either. This fear of her from everyone made her feel frustrated with everyone. She could sense their emotions, deep in their subconscious. Here she was at school, supposedly a place where humans and youkai should coexist wth one another well. Yet, they judge her based on what they heard without even trying to know her at all.

Yuugi and Koishi separated at some point, with Yuugi still not helping her at all after shouting out the satori's name loudly along the corridors while waving her hand expressively. Koishi gave her a cold look, not appreciating the nice gestures of an active oni. She turned to the opposite direction and head to the staff room.

Koishi met her form teacher, Hieda no Akyuu. To her relief, Akyuu was not scared of her.

Hieda no Akyuu (稗田 阿求) or known as the Memory of Gensokyo. Having matching purple eyes, purple hair with her light pink flower shaped ornament, it suited her nicely with the yellow flowers on her sleeves. Her outfit resembled a "wa lolita" type or a Japanese-esque maid outfit which consisted of a green vest and a short hakama shirt seperated by a red-white laced obi.

Akyuu guided Koishi to her new class. The young satori felt nervous yet excited to meet her new classmates. Her reputation and rumours would definitely have an impact on her classmate's first impression of her. She hoped that she have at least some classmates that did not believe them. There are bound to be good people. Gensokyo should at least deserve such beings.

They reached their classroom and Akyuu told her to wait outside until she called her in. A lot of thoughts went through her mind as she was waiting outside.

 _Will I really be able to make new friends? What kind of friends will I get? What if I still can't succeed after all these years?_

Since this would be her last attempt to achieve her goal, she was feeling extremely nervous in case she were to fail again.

As those questions slowly left her mind, Koishi could hear complaints within the classroom as soon as Akyuu mentioned her name.

"But Akyuu _-sensei_ , she is _that_ satori. The one that was able to hurt Reimu badly. Why is she being allowed to come here?" one of her classmate complained inside the classroom.

"Yeah, she have that scary power of hers. Who knows if she wants to come here so she can control and hurt us!" another said.

"Class, you should not judge her yet. Get to know her first," Akyuu said calmly, understanding why her students reacted this way.

"But _sensei_ … I'm really scared…"

This plummeted Koishi's confidence immediately. A mixture of rage and disappointment swelled inside her. So much for putting an effort to place herself in a better light, to make sure she was not some crazy youkai who like to read the subconscious minds of others and made use of others.

She fingers curled into a fist as sweat formed on her hands and face. Koishi kicked her legs on the door on impulsed to release some of her anger. With that one loud knocking sound, the whole class immediately became silent. However, it was a very uncomfortable silence.

"Komeiji _-san_ , you can come in now," Akyuu called her after a few seconds.

This was it. This was her moment. She did not care about what she have done so far, even after kicking that door. What was being done is done. All she have to hope for was the fact that there would be some people that would still be willing to talk to her. She wished so deeply that Gensokyo have at least some decent beings. Her life should not stay in this state forever.

Koishi made one long deep breath, before she raised her right hand to push the door open. She stepped into a room, hoping for the best scenario possible.

The satori was not exactly wrong.


	3. A Vampire as a Friend

**Chapter 3: A Vampire as a Friend**

* * *

As Koishi entered the classroom, all of the students remained silent.

On her left was where all the students sat, among rows of wooden chairs and tables. She counted that there were roughly about 20 students. Akyuu, who was in front of her and beside the teacher's desk, smiled at her encouragingly to move forward.

Koishi stopped right beside Akyuu. She handed the satori a whiteboard marker, nodding again for her to do the introductions. Koishi could tell Akyuu was trying to help her in giving the class a better impression of her. She wanted to be there for her as a teacher. For that, the satori felt very grateful even though they just met.

Koishi went to the whiteboard and wrote her name. As this was occurring, there was absolute silence except the squeaking of the marker on the whiteboard as she wrote. She could sense the uncomfortable atmosphere among her classmates, which probably have dampened their mood for school for the rest of the day. It was as if a living demon just stepped right into the classroom in front of their eyes. Since Koishi lived in what used to be hell, technically they were not wrong.

Koishi return to face the class, took a step forward, skimming through her classmates thoughts and expressions. At first, it looked like all eyes were on her. She was about to open her mouth when she realised someone who was different from the rest on her right.

At the back of the room, beside the windows overlooking the school grounds, a classmate was the only one not looking at her. It was a girl. A female youkai to be more precise. It was a simple deduction for anyone who possessed magic to be able to tell the difference between humans, youkai and divine beings such as goddesses.

Her slouching body, with her right hand to her chin while facing the window, showed that she have no interest with what was happening and felt bored a the moment. Koishi wondered what was up with her being like that. It was a first for the satori to see someone not interested or react to seeing her.

"Komeiji _-san_ …" Akyuu whispered worryingly, apparently noticing that Koishi was just standing with everyone staring and waiting for her to start.

Snapping back to attention and suddenly aware that almost all eyes were on her, Koishi immediately bowed and said in a soft, lively voice, something she practiced many times back at home. "Hello, my name is Koishi Komeiji. From today onwards, I will be your classmate. I wish to make friends and hope to know all of you better."

Koishi raised her head, keeping her smile on her face. At first it was the same uncomfortable silence. After a few seconds, Akyuu started clapping, followed by some of her classmates who nervously clapped for her introduction. At least it was not that bad than what she was expecting, since she kicked the door hard a few minutes ago.

Thinking about kicking the door, that kind of accidents was not that rare for the satori. She may be quiet and shy at most times but if she felt angry or annoyed, her more violent, maybe immature side was shown. Just a few weeks ago, Utsuho accidentally destroyed her room with her nuclear fusion powers, which made Koishi mad. The raging satori literally blasted her with spell cards and barred the hell raven from entering the mansion for the whole week. Even after her sister and another of Satori's pet, Rin Kaenbyou talked to her, she refused to change her decision. That was how stubborn she was when she was in a bad mood. She did not want to show these people that side of hers, and she hoped that knocking doors or making loud noises on the first day of school was the first thing most people would do.

Akyuu decided that she would be sitting by the window all the way to the back, right behind the interesting classmate of hers. Koishi walked to the front of the row, slowly walking down the aisle. Her eyes were examining and looking intently at this strange classmate of hers, wondering why this particular classmate acted so different from the rest.

As Koishi get closer to her, more of her distinctive features could be seen. Her blond hair told her that she was of Western origin, which tied into a single ponytail on her left side. She wears a pink and white mob cap with ribbon attached. Her red dress and vest with the pink shirt underneath and socks, gave this eerie and bad feeling that somehow reminded her of blood. Koishi wondered if this made her have some blood relation to her powers or simply the way she dressed. And her eyes, Koishi was almost sure it was deep red eyes.

 _They look pretty. I know plenty of youkai that have red eyes. But never have I seen one that as pretty as hers,_ Koishi thought.

But with her face facing the window, Koishi was still quite unsure of what she saw as she was seeing from the reflection.

Koishi took the last seat of the row and took out her school items, such as the normal stationeries. She felt rather peculiar, since it never occurred to her that someday she would be attending school daily like some modern humans from the outside world. It was not like she needed to anyway. Being a youkai, gaining knowledge this way was not what normally a youkai would do. Only humans. She was simply using school for a different purpose.

Koishi looked up, ready to listen on her ever first lesson. Akyuu, seeing Koishi was ready, started. Akyuu acted as if there was nothing happened earlier and move on without saying further into the matter. For this, Koishi felt even more respect for her. She took a deep breath, wondering how long she would last in school in these lessons and hoping to achieve her goal someday with this first step.

Meanwhile, Koishi noticed that the blond girl in front of her immediately plopped on top of the desk and rest on her folded arms as soon Akyuu started. Akyuu seemed to either not noticed this action or she gotten use to this behavior of hers that she pretended not to see the blond girl.

Koishi sighed, thinking that this blond girl have distracted her enough. Thus, she moved her focus back to Akyuu where she would experience her first human school lesson.

* * *

The bell rang loudly throughout the school. Koishi could hear students, whether it was youkai or humans running or chattering immediately from her window at the ground level. It was her first ever lunchtime in a modern school.

Lessons were good for the young satori so far and she could follow well. Akyuu was nice to take Koishi's presence in consideration, which again made Koishi felt thankful for her effort to do so. She reminded herself to thank Akyuu if she got the time.

Things were still quite awkward between Koishi and her classmates so she bolted out of the building quickly. Her classmates were clearly uncomfortable with her being in the room and she did not want any trouble with anyone. She found that the back of the building was a good place for her to eat seeing that it was a forested area, and no one was passing by at all. No one also did not notice her as she came to that place.

Koishi sat at the hard concrete floor near the base of the building, having her back facing the building. She took out her lunch box, a plain grey-greenish with pink cover, a present from her sister for attending her first day of school. She listened in to the call of nature, enjoying its silence. Silence and nature, both which she always loved to go when she felt lonely or was not in a good mood for the day. It always help her in restoring her confidence and instilled calmness in her. There was hardly such areas in the Underworld.

As the young satori ate, although it was faint, she heard some explosions followed by branches of tree falling down in the distance, interrupting the silence she was enjoying. At first, she ignored the slight distraction but it became an annoying disturbance to her relaxation when it got louder.

Koishi placed her box aside and stood up, wishing for whoever who was disturbing her to stop. Unknowingly, an image of red and white seen from her eyes came to her and she felt herself falling down with her back to the ground very hard. She struggled and held back the pain on her chest and leg. Her eyes blurred as she saw the image getting further away from her.

"What's with me frequently being knocked down…" Koishi mumbled.

"Ooh… sorry… didn't see you." the image spoke to her.

Koishi focused her eyes, and she eventually recognising who it was.

It was the same blond girl who was sitting in front of her in the classroom. She was on top of Koishi, with both her arms and legs locking into Koishi's. Koishi did not notice this and instead glared at the blond girl.

What Koishi was intrigued by the most was the red eyes of the blond girl. Koishi stared at her eyes for some time when she noticed their weird and seductive position. She gave the blond girl a cold, hard look.

"Oh… I see..." the blond girl said too casually for the situation.

She sat up and offered her hand.

Koishi pushed the hand away rudely and pulled herself up. She brushed off the dust on her skirt and looked at her intensely, and her eyes came to the red eyes again.

The girl, noticing her stare covered her face playfully, "Ehh… why are you lookingat me like that?"

The satori looked away quickly and instead examined the rest of the blond girl.

It was now then Koishi noticed that the blond girl have wings on her back. It extended to both of her sides like the branch of the trees and each branch holds 7 crystals of different colours. The satori did not see this earlier during class. Probably she let it stay folded and hidden between the small gap of the chair and herself. It would definitely block people's way if she were to extend it to full length.

"What… are you doing here?" Koishi asked with hints of irritation and distrust in her voice.

"Me?" the girl pointed at herself, seemingly oblivious to Koishi's tone. "I am just having fun… playing around with those trees over there."

Koishi looked at the forest. Lots of branches have fallen to the grass, and some were burning or became black like soot, as if some scorching concentrated fire or heat had just cut them through like no business.

"This is you having fun?" Koishi asked, sounding astonished.

"Yeah, anything wrong with that?" The girl tilted her head innocently.

 _Sure is. Definitely something wrong for a 10-year-old to burn trees as their daily plaything,_ Koishi thought quietly.

Silenced ensued between them. Koishi was not sure what to talk about with this girl. She gave this strange and weird vibe around her, like she should not get close to this girl. Koishi was not trusting the blond girl, even if she have a childish and innocent attitude. She glanced at her face repeatedly, her red eyes kpt getting her attention. It was then she started to see the blond girl as a whole.

 _Oh gods of Gensokyo...she's beautiful. Especially those eyes and hair. They just complement each other well. Her wings… it's unusual but very pretty. How well it fit having like a child-like body like myself. Both of us are of the same height._ Koishi became convoluted with these thoughts, making their silence even longer as Koishi had no intention of talking.

"Um… do you still want to play with me?" the blond girl asked, still looking at her innocently.

Koishi stood up immediately, making eye contact again.

"Ehh… no. I'm eating at the moment. See?" Koishi raised her hand to show the blond girl her box when she noticed it was not with her.

Koishi quickly turned and looked around, realising that it was just being pushed away by her legs, but the contents remained intact. She heaved a sigh of relief and picked it up.

"Ooh… it's very pretty. Matches the colour of your hair. I wish _onee-sama_ give me those kind of boxes I see everyone has," the girl eyes sparkled as placed her hand together excitedly.

"Err… thanks I guess."

 _Onee-sama?_ Koishi thought. _Why is she addressing her sister so formally? Maybe she belongs to some very rich family of youkai?_

Koishi left the blond girl alone as the girl just stared at her with her mouth watering. The young satori ignored her and finished her food quickly. They did not exchange a single word to each other as Koishi ate. As time passed by, she could hear crackling sound from the burned wood behind her as trees and leaves fell to the ground, further making the satori in a bad mood.

Once she finished her lunch, Koishi carried the box and stood up, deciding that she should now go back to the classroom. The blond girl followed her closely. Koishi looked at her, clearly irritated by her behavior.

The blond girl blinked her eyes twice, confused. "Ehh… Koishi _-san_? I am your classmate too, you know."

Koishi took a moment to digest what she have heard and realising that this blond girl had just addressed her with her first name. Anger came to the satori and she instantly grabbed the shoulder of the blond girl hard.

"Wait, what are you trying to do?" the girl said panickingly.

" **Who are you… and why are you disturbing me?"** Koishi said with a deep voice, sounding extremely irritated.

"Fufufufu… Koishi _-san_ ," the blond girl relaxed and laughed at her face. "As I said before, I just want to play with you. Don't you think it's fun burning and breaking everything you see?"

Flandre tapped Koishi's nose playfully. Koishi let go of her and slapped her hand, shocked at her behavior.

"No. But I will hurt you if you keep talking to me! And please, stop calling me by my first name!"

"You are so boring, _Koishi-san_." The blond girl sighed, looking dejected, and emphasizing the name. "I thought you are different from the rest, and willing to play with me. I just want to be friends with you."

Koishi paused at what she had just said, deciding if she should believe this girl's words. Koishi contemplated with her thoughts, weighing her options. It was a few seconds later before the girl continued proudly, "By the way, for your first question, my name is Flandre Scarlet. The Diabolic Wave or the Sister of the Devil. whichever one you want to call it. I am a vampire!"

 _Flandre Scarlet…_ somehow it sounded familiar in her head. Koishi shook her head, deciding that she would think about all this later, and started walking back to the front of the school building.

"Hey, wait!" Flandre called out, disappointed with her classmate's apparent lack of reaction with the word 'vampire'.

Flandre kept talking to Koishi, and kept asking her to play and share various things about herself. To her, destroying and breaking things seemed like her way of making use of time. She was excited and lively while talking about it. Koishi ignored her completely and focused on going back to their classroom as soon as possible. This attracted a lot of attention to Flandre as they would only see her talking to herself. Something Koishi would not care.

They reached their classroom and as Koishi opened the back door, fortunately for her, no one have noticed her yet. They would probably assume that it was Flandre who have entered even if they stared right at the satori.

Koishi went in first followed by Flandre, who was still talking to her. Koishi was halfway to their desk when someone stood in front of her, blocking her way.

"Why in Gensokyo are you doing here, huh?" said an envied and demanding voice.

Koishi looked up and recognised that voice instantly. She did not even have to look up to know who was blocking her path. No wonder she noticed the satori because anyone who knew the satori well could sense her much easier than that of someone who passed by her randomly.

Parsee Mizuhashi (水橋 パルスィ) or also known as The Jealousy Beneath the Earth's Crust. The hashihime or bridge princess was always the same as usual since the last time Koishi last saw her. Her clothes many different colours that did not seemed to match each other well. She have blond hair like Flandre, and green eyes, while wearing a rather odd dress. Top is brown with purple borders, with a criss-cross pattern with a pink sash. The bottom is blue and purple with the same criss-cross pattern but black with red strings hanging at her bottom edge. Her skin was unique by itself, having a pale chartreuse to it, which was extremely rare for a youkai.

As her species suggested, the reason Koishi knew her because the hashihime lived underground and guarded one of the few important bridges for anyone to cross, and if they wanted to get to the Palace of the Earth Spirits, her bridge would be the best bridge to take, though it was not the safest.

Koishi rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with her at the moment. She knew Parsee from underground, but she avoided her as much as she could. But since Koishi lived in the Palace of the Earth Spirits, Parsee would definitely find reasons to see her often to irritate her for her own pleasure and satisfy her jealousy. And seeing that hashihime have won her older sister's favour by showing good behavior, the younger satori would see her often in the mansion.

That was how Parsee was all the time. Going around disturbing and demand things for everyone for whatever she was curious of. She was a person that requires a lot of patience to be with. No wonder she have barely any friends to speak of.

"I am here to make friends, Mizuhashi _-san._ Now get out of my way, I am in no mood to talk to you," Koishi replied with controlled anger.

"Hey, don't ignore me! I am your classmate now! So answer me now." Parsee sidestepped to block Koishi's progress.

Koishi have to look up to look into Parsee's eyes as the latter was a head taller than the former.

"I don't care about whether you are my classmate or not. It won't change the fact that you are preventing me from reaching my desk."

"I am jealous of the fact you are able to get into this school so easily. You must have threatened the teachers to get in here right? If not, why would someone who everyone's afraid of come here? Answer me, _emotionless youkai monster_!"

That was a bit too far that Parsee went. Yet, Koishi kept her anger in check. But the hashihime insisted in making her stay put until the satori answered all her questions. That was when someone from behind Koishi tackled Parsee to the ground. Books and stationaries nearby all flew to the floor.

When the dust was cleared, Flandre was on top of Parsee. Koishi realised her nails became sharpened and she bared 2 fangs on her teeth. Both of Flandre's hand was on Parsee's neck. The young satori eyes widened when she saw that her scarlet eyes shone brightly. Parsee was visibly breathless as the strong vampire was choking hard on her neck. This in turn, made everyone else turned quiet and became spectators of this commotion.

 **"Mizuhashi** _ **-san,**_ **be careful with the words you said to my friend, got that?"** Flandre said threateningly, her voice echoed with power in her voice.

Koishi and everyone else in the room just stared at the duo. The satori's thoughts processed what the vampire had just said. The child-like vampire called her a friend. After just 30 mins of meeting her, and Flandre already considered her a friend of hers.

Koishi stood there, when she suddenly felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly covered her eyes with her hands and moved to her desk, taking out her items, trying not to let anyone see her crying.

"See what you have done to her? Next time, I won't play with you anymore!" Flandre shouted, releasing her grip on Parsee, returning to normal.

"As if I have started playing with you before! You just randomly breaking things! That will make anyone mad at you if it's their belongings!"

"Well… it's fun isn't it. Seeing things go here and there… the place being a mess full of blood and the place on fire…"

Parsee gritted her teeth in irritation and simply walked to her desk, which were on the other side of the classroom from Koishi's position. She sat down and folded her arms, fuming angrily, not saying anything further.

Flandre giggled as she sat at her place. She was enjoying seeing Parsee reacting that way. Flandre did not say anything, and stared curiously at Koishi, wanting to know what her friend was thinking.

Meanwhile, Koishi's thoughts revolved around what Flandre had said. _Did she really mean it? Or was it just a spur of the moment? But she said she wanted to be friends with me earlier so maybe it is the truth? Still I want to know it now. I don't really like to use this but I looks like I got no other choice._

Koishi cleared her tears away and raised her eyes, sensing the curiosity stare of Flandre.

 _Her blond hair with the wind… the way she looked outside. It made her looked even prettier,_ the young satori thought.

Koishi was surprised at her own thoughts. _Why am I thinking about this? Now I need to read her thoughts to see what she truly meant what she said._

Koishi placed a bit of power inside her mind, to open up her reading abilites so she could read what the vampire was thinking in her subconscious mind. This would also mean that she would know what the rest of the class were thinking but now it did not matter to her.

"Um… Koishi _-san,_ " Flandre called her.

Koishi paused, distracted, "Um… yes… Scarlet _-san_?"

Flandre felt amused by the reaction, "Just call me Flandre. Everyone else address that way only to _onee-sama._ And, we are friends after all."

"Okay, so what is it… F...F...Flandre _-san_?" Koishi asked, feeling uncomfortable with such sudden informalities.

 _I just called someone by the first name!_ Koishi thought happily.

Flandre chuckled with Koishi's stammering and the way the satori called her name.

"It is pronounced _Flandoor_ , not _Flander_ ," Flandre corrected her.

"Oh sorry, F...Flandre- _san_ ," Koishi said, pronouncing the name correctly.

"It's ok. Happens all the time to people I just meet."

A few moments of silence passed by as both immediately looked away, not knowing what else to talk about.

"Say…," Flandre stammered nervously. "Is it ok if… if…"

"Yes? Koishi raised her head quickly, becoming interested and excited.

"If… I go home with you everyday?" Flandre finally managed to ask. "As a friend?" she added further.

Flandre's face became slightly red. Koishi, oblivious to Flandre's reactions, took a while to consider making Flandre's feeling of awkwardness even more and the shade of red on her face to slowly became brighter every passing moment.

"Ok, I don't mind," Koishi answered.

"What? Really?" Flandre jumped at her seat to grab Koishi's hands hard, pinning the satori's arms to the desk.

"Yes, really. Ouch… you hurting my arms."

Flandre apologised repeatedly the moment the bell rang. Koishi grinned quietly at Flandre's reaction as she spend a few minutes trying to convince the worried vampire that she was fine

 _Flandre-san isn't so bad I guess. Maybe I should start trusting her,_ Koishi thought to herself.

Lunch time was over. So much have happened just in a span of 1 hour. And it was also just her first day of school. But even though it's a small step, Koishi found it to be a great day.

Koishi decided that looking into Flandre's subconsciousness could wait another time. Maybe there was no need to do so. The young satori arranged her items, in preparation for her next lesson.


	4. New Friends and Unpleasant Past

**Chapter 4: New Friends and Unpleasant Past**

* * *

In the next few days of the same week, Koishi found that there were some positive changes in her usual life.

First of all was the overall situation with the class. At first, it was the same uncomfortable and awkward atmosphere with no one talking to her. But with Flandre kept pestering Koishi during lunch, it got people curious and some of her classmates, mainly the daring youkai, approached her and started to open up to her. This made Koishi to at least looking forward to come to school everyday, knowing that some would want to be friends with her. However, as always, the satori lived up to her reputation of the shy and quiet girl she was. This was limited only to her class, as for her schoolmates, they still ran away or gave her the cold shoulder.

Secondly were her classes. Koishi did expect to find modern human knowledge to be interesting and different from theirs. After all, Gensokyo have magic while modern humans in science. It was obvious who should be the more powerful and dominant. So she found herself fascinated by aeroplanes and helicopters or how humans grow trees in an artificial way such as plant tissue culture though they did not go in-depth in it. This was because as mentioned previously, most of the classes were still taught magic and science were not much incorporated in Gensokyo as Yukari stated from the beginning. This in turn, also made Koishi to be very attentive in class and shared with her sister and pets her experiences when she return to the mansion every school day.

Lastly, it was the satori's relationship with the vampire. At first, Koishi remained cold and distant. But Flandre, with her enthusiastic, clueless child-like behavior, was not going to give up easily and always talked to her everyday, be it lunch time or when they were going back home together. Even if it was pretty much a one-sided conversation, Koishi found herself slowly warming up to Flandre to the point that the vampire's presence made her feel glad that there was someone whom she could converse comfortably with. She roughly knew the background and people of Flandre's family and mansion though they did not really go into the details. Maybe she could ask her if there was time.

But with all these positive developments, Koishi always thought of some things. Is it just ok to just leave things as they are like this? Maybe she could make more close friends besides Flandre? Parsee was definitely out of the question _for now_. It was not a good time to know her, seeing Flandre and Parsee always on edge with each other since that incident on the first day. Not that the hashihime have any friends in the first place seeing that she was alone all the time.

There were moments that certain deeper thoughts came to her especially when she was with her best friend. Koishi could not help but admired how well Flandre looked especially those deep red eyes. It was unusual and special as compared to other youkai she have seen. Just how often could such a small feature caught her attention so much?

That was where the thoughts of maybe proceeding beyond just a normal friendship came to her mind. It was bizarre and strange to her when she came to this unknown level. It hurts and confused her mind and heart all the time. The moment she came to this thought, she just shy away from it, as the pain she felt was slowly becoming unbearable. She was here to make friends, and that was all it matters.

The first week went on with no incident. It was on the 2nd week of school where some interesting events took place for the young satori.

It was a normal day like any other school day. As soon as Koishi stepped into the school, some explosions could be heard and seen on the school grounds. She shook her head, knowing what to expect. She ran to the gates and scanned the school ground.

There she was, already destroyed half of the school rubbish dump. And it was quite obvious who was the culprit.

"What were you thinking, still using the dumpster as a target practice. I told you countless times already, do not break school property for your plaything!" a teacher shouting at a certain playful vampire, who was looking at the teacher with no hints of remorse.

Koishi stepped in closer, going through the walls of students who was circling around the commotion. They have yet to notice her presence.

When Koishi passed by the wall of students, she saw a very angry Keine Kamishirasawa and a clearly grinning Flandre.

Keine was the discipline master of the school. She, as expected, was the strict teacher she always was and best suited for this job when the school was build.

Keine Kamishirasawa (慧音 上白沢), or also known by her title History-Eater Half Beast. Keine was a half human, half youkai. She was a were-hakutaku, able to create and erase history as she deemed fit. Once during the incident of a fake moon, she erased the history of the human village so it seems as if the village never existed to protect it from the stronger youkai roaming during the incident.

Back to the current situation at hand, Koishi realised that being close to Flandre have several drawbacks. One of it was this. Being playful and loved destroying things that was not even hers, Flandre's daily antics resulted in Keine coming frequently on her case and asking her to do many things as punishments, but Koishi was too willing to just stay back so she could go home with Flandre together. This made the vampire saying thanks and show appreciation to her best friend in some ways (beside breaking things) and this always leave a smile and satisfying feeling on the satori once she reached home. So there was a mature side of her was what Koishi always thought.

After Keine gave Flandre a long, good lecture, Flandre was free to go and saw Koishi immediately among the crowd. This surprised everyone who was near Koishi, as her friend have brought attention from her to everyone, and they quickly ran away, causing a mini-stampede as they went straight to their classroom.

Flandre ran and hugged Koishi, glad to see Koishi after 2 days of not seeing her over the weekend.

Koishi kept quiet and just gave her a happy expression as both of them went to their classroom, with the energetic vampire having stories to tell during her weekends. She jumped up and down excitedly and gave many lively expressions which Koishi thoroughly enjoyed. As usual, Koishi always gave attention by looking at her red eyes and wings when the vampire started talking to her.

They reached the classroom and walked to their respective seats. By this time, Koishi no longer felt the same atmosphere as the first day in the classroom. Quite a lot of her classmates have warmed up to her so when the duo entered the class, they came to them asking many questions mainly directed at Koishi.

As Koishi prepared her school items, Flandre called out from her front, "Hey it's Yamame _-chan_!"

Koishi turned to her right and saw a female youkai, seating right next to her. It was the first time Koishi saw her. She thought that the seat did not belong to anyone.

This youkai have her blond hair tied up in a bun with a ribbon. She wears a black and brown dress that was poofy under her waist, with yellow ribbons tied at her lower body. Her dress have 6 buttons seemingly, if matched with her own brown eyes, it would give the same number of eyes a spider have.

 _Wait a minute_ , Koishi thought. _Is she that tsuchigumo (earth spider) that I heard of? What was her name again?_

Suddenly, Flandre jumped to her and hugged her, crashing and made them fall to the floor with the chair thrown to the back. Flandre's hat also fell to their side.

"Oh Yamame _-chan_ … I misss you so, so much! How are you feeling now?" Flandre said excitedly, rubbing her cheeks against Yamame like a lost child seeing her mother.

It was accurate since Yamame was also like Parsee, a head taller than the vampire and the satori and she gave out a mature aura with her clothes and composure.

 _Right, Yamame Kurodani. She was the one guarding one of the entrance of the underworld. I remember onee-chan mentioning her a few times,_ the satori's mind recalled.

"I get it, Flandre _-chan_. I am well now. You can get off me," Yamame replied with an amusing expression.

"Ehh… but I want more of Yamame _-chan_ 's nice smooth skin…" the vampire pouted with puppy eyes, wanting to do more.

"Later Flandre _-chan_ , we got lessons to attend. I give you as much rubbing when we are having lunch ok?" Yamame returned the hat to the vampire's head.

"Ok..." Flandre replied reluctantly, clearly disappointed, as she stood up and help Yamame up.

Flandre went back to her seat, crossed her arms and legs and turned her head to the window in disappointment. She continued pouting, still not satisfied with Yamame's answer.

At this moment, Koishi was stunned. She knows Flandre can act childish at times, and rarely Flandre could act mature and serious. Sometimes by seeing her like this, Koishi's mind found it difficult to take Flandre seriously at times. It was hard to read and predict her best friend's mood.

Koishi decided maybe it was better to dismiss it as Flandre's usual child-like antics. Maybe to only Yamame would she acted like this. By the looks of it, the tsuchigumo seemed to be her first close friend in school. Koishi shook her head, taking out her items when suddenly, she saw Parsee glancing at their area repeatedly, in particular at Yamame. But the expression she gave was what made Koishi looked closely at her. It was not something Koishi expected of her visitor of the mansion.

Parsee was looking at Yamame nervously, wanting to go there desperately and say something to her. Her hands was clenched, with her leg stumped onto the floor. Yamame was oblivious to this, as she took out her own school items. Parsee took notice of Koishi looking at her, and gave her that annoyed and jealous expression of hers before turning back to face the front. It was the first time Koishi saw her so flustered.

Akyuu entered the class and everyone back to their seats to get ready for class. Yamame have yet to notice Koishi's existence in class, hence paid no heed to the seat beside her. The satori decided that she would introduce herself to the tsuchigumo during lunch later.

* * *

It was lunch time and as soon the bell rang, the hyperactive vampire (who miraculously became energetic after feeling bored a few seconds ago) turned to face Koishi and looked at the satori excitedly. It was how Flandre did for every lunch they had last week. But this time round, Flandre have something to show off to Koishi. In her hands, was a deep red lunch box.

"Flan _-chan_ , am I seeing what I think it is?" Koishi asked, surprised.

That was how the satori called her best friend now, on the request of the vampire. It was more like an order though.

"Yes, Koishi- _chan_! My own lunch box. _Onee-sama_ decided to give one to me after I threatened her over the weekends!" Flandre replied excitedly as she opened her box.

"That was not what you suppose to do to just ask for your own lunch box…" Koishi shook her head disapprovingly.

Yamame looked at Flandre, clearly confused and concerned, since she have yet to sense Koishi's presence.

"Um… Flandre _-chan_ , are you ok?" Yamame asked.

"I am all right, Yamame _-chan_. Why?"

"Well, you seem to be talking to yourself. I don't see that satori here."

"Oh she's right here! She's my new friend!" Flandre pointed to Koishi.

"Your friend…" Yamame turned her head slowly to the seat adjacent to hers.

It took a few seconds before the earth spider saw Koishi directly in front of her. Her eyes widened with fright when she realised who she was seeing and quickly stood up and bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry. I did not notice you at all. Really!" Yamame said frantically, clearly scared of the satori's presence right in front of her.

Yamame definitely knew who the Closed Eye of Love was.

Koishi remained silent for a while, not surprised that she received such reactions, before replying with a soft, reassuring voice. "It's ok Yamame _-chan_ … may I call you by your first name? Since I am quite close to Flan- _chan_. Then you can call me Koishi. It is because of my powers which was why you did not noticed me so it can't be help that you would react that way."

"Eh? Oh sure…" Yamame looked up, confused by the opposite behavior she was expecting.

"Come sit with us _Yamame-chan._ Don't be scared. Koishi _-chan_ isn't going to read your mind," Flandre said reassuringly.

Yamame nodded and took her chair and placed it next to Koishi's table. She took her lunch box, which was black and brown in colour, and have webs wrapped around the bottom half of it. Her fear slowly dissipated seeing that the satori are good friends with the vampire.

Koishi explained to Yamame what happened for the last week. Yamame was impressed by Koishi's actions. Then, Yamame explained her absence. Apparently, she was sick for the whole week. She have the abilities to manipulate sickness and diseases and thus, humans stayed away from her before they caught wind of the sickness that she could spread. Though she claimed she mainly used it for self-defence. However, she could still get sick from others that did not originate from her. Then, it was the satori's turn to bow deeply to ask her to be a friend, which the tsuchigumo accepted without hesitation. Her bright personality contributed to this since she usually looked at the positive side of things. That was what allowed her to survive living underground seeing that she was not much of a strong youkai.

Time went on fast as they chatted and before they knew it, lunch time have ended. It actually ended properly with Akyuu's scolding Flandre because the latter kept demanding Yamame for more head pats and rubbing of her cheeks against hers even after lunch time was over. Akyuu continued on her lesson after Flandre returned to her seat with Yamame apologising profusely for the disturbance that the teacher felt quite guilty for scolding her.

* * *

School day was over and Akyuu was about to leave the class. Everyone let go of their breath with relief after the very intense atmosphere that Akyuu provided during the lesson. Unlike the previous lessons they got, the teacher was raising her voice and somehow got very motivated and more serious than usual to pressurise and stress her own students by asking a lot of difficult questions.

Koishi and her friends started packing as they prepared to leave together, feeling exhausted. Earlier, the trio were also not spared by Akyuu's bombarding questions too, though she seemed to purposely ask Flandre the least for obvious reasons.

"Woah, the questions she asked was more harder than usual. Akyuu _-sensei_ was so motivated today. I wonder what happened to her," Yamame commented.

Her friends nodded, agreeing with her.

Flandre lowered her voice, "You see, it was a rumour I heard but yesterday she went to a mixer and ended up with no one t-"

A ball of paper hit hard on Flandre's head, knocking her down flat on her front.

"I heard that, Scarlet- _san._ You will be given punishment tomorrow for spreading bad rumours about your teacher," Akyuu said in a stern voice.

"Actually, it isn't a rumour. It is a fact that everyone knows." Flandre muttered as she picked herself up.

"Anyway, it was not like you were paying attention Flan _-chan_ ," Koishi chuckled.

"Of course," the vampire confirmed proudly, "No matter what, the lessons rarely have any interesting things to learn."

 _Except anything that help you in quickly adding entropy to your surroundings,_ Koishi added in her mind.

As the trio walked to the back door of the classroom, someone pulled Yamame's dress. It was Parsee, sitting at her seat since hers was right by the door.

Koishi was surprised at the sight she saw. The youkai was looking down, holding Yamame's dress tightly while looking very red and flustered. This was definitely a totally different Parsee than what she knew. She never seen her blushing so clearly to someone before.

"Mizuhashi _-san_ , what are you doing to Yamame _-chan_?" Flandre became alarmed.

Parsee turned to the satori and the vampire, turning more red every second. "Shut up you two! I… I just want to talked Kurodani _-san_ alone that's all!"

Flandre was about to continue, when Yamame stopped her by raising her hand on the vampire's mouth.

"It's ok, Flandre _-chan_. You guys go home together. I am sure Mizuhashi _-san_ want to catch up with everything since I was absent for 1 week,"Yamame said calmly.

Both of them stayed silent for a while, before Koishi pulled Flandre to the door, motioning her head out of the classroom. Flandre reluctantly followed, still glaring at Parsee who returned her with the same look, as they exited the room. Sensing that their presence were gone, Parsee dropped her hands and invited Yamame to sit beside her. The tsuchigumo took the offer and waited for hashihime to start by giving her fullest attention. Parsee looked up, taking a while to start speaking.

"So h...how was everything?" Parsee asked nervously.

* * *

"What's up with her?" Flandre complained loudly after both of them have left the school grounds.

They were walking through the streets of the Human Village. It was the same path that Koishi took to go to school on her first day. As expected, youkai and humans were making a wide berth around them. It was mostly due to Flandre since they cannot see or sense the satori's presence. Even the young vampire was also feared by them since she was a vampire and the younger sister of the Scarlet Devil. It was quite well known that the younger sister was much stronger than the Scarlet Devil herself.

"It was the first time I have seen her like that," Koishi said.

"Wait, you know her?" Flandre looked at her best friend, not believing her.

"Yeah. She is my _onee_ _-chan's_ … good acquaintance. She visit my home frequently. You cannot believe how much I have to put up with her behavior in front of my sister," Koishi explained, rolling her eyes.

"Hmm… no wonder she reacted like that during lunch on your first day."

"Yeah. Except the fact she called me an emotionless monster youkai for the few rare times. She isn't exactly wrong. But most of it was in the past though."

"Ehhh! Really? I thought she was just randomly called you that! How were you back then?" Flandre jumped excitedly, her red eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Koishi started explaining to Flandre about her past. How, after she closed her 3rd eye, she did not feel anything anymore. She simply lived by her subconsciousness and was not seen by anyone. How no one remembered her exactly and they called her as 'Satori's sister'. Then, she moved on to how the fight with Reimu Hakurei at Moriya Shrine and over the mask with Hata no Kokoro gave her a new purpose to her life. Flandre kept asking a lot of questions about what she felt for each moment and how the fight went. She was very interested in knowing how her best friend battle in danmaku. Koishi continued on until to the point of her life where she decided to come to school to make friends.

Despite telling Flandre all her feelings and her sensitive unpleasant past, Koishi realised that she trusted Flandre and she could easily tell her with no hesitation or any way of indirectness.

Perhaps Flandre truly wanted to be friends with her. No way she was someone she could distrust. The vampire have proven several times in just 2 weeks that she was a reliable friend.

After Koishi ended her tale, and Flandre kept quiet for a long time. She did not enquire about her past further and instead seemed to be contemplating with her thoughts. The satori glanced at her best friend, and surprised to see that the vampire was now showing her rare serious expression. She looked as if she was scrutinising the ground for something.

They walked silently where they reached the edge of the village where there was almost no building or anyone nearby. There was a path that moved straight through the Forest of Magic which both of them took. The silence continued, as Koishi did not know what else to talk about while also allowing Flandre to think about her tale. The satori suddenly felt a chill went up her spine. For a moment, she detected a short trace of external magic she did not recognised not coming from either of them. She wondered if she have imagined that.

"Hmm... we are similar," Flandre finally said after a few minutes.

Koishi gave Flandre a confused look, "Similar? How?"

"You see, I am also like you. I was trapped in the basement of my house for 495 years. You know how long that was? 495 years?" the vampire looked at the satori intently, expecting some form of reaction from her.

"No. But I know that is definitely longer than me hiding underground."

The vampire sighed, disappointed at the reaction she got. "Well, during those years I was kept hidden by _onee_ - _sama_ , so I was alone most of the time. Don't ask me why, I had no clue for the reason behind it. Sakuya _-san_ sometimes visit to give me food and blood but most of the time I was feeling lonely and there was no one to play with. It was very boring, with no interaction with anyone else except her and Patchouli _-san_. They gave me toys and dolls to keep me occupied but I keep breaking stuff in the basement, even the dolls and toys both of them gave me. _**Every. Single. One. Of Them.**_ "

Flandre's fingers curled into fists as she controlled her anger with the memory. "It became worse. It was almost to the point of insanity, and I could barely tell what was alive and dead or real and fake. It was just too much to bear for even one person like me. _**Especially someone as young as me.**_ Me, who was used to be a young human child and have no experience whatsoever in being an actual vampire, trapped for almost 5 centuries in a dirty old basement. It got so bad that _onee-sama_ placed a defence barrier around my room to prevent me from breaking through the basement, but of course, me being the more powerful one break through the barrier easily. So _onee_ - _sama_ decided to restrict me to just stay within the house. Even then, 495 years had passed by so my mind was literally broken from the years of being alone."

Flandre paused, allowing herself to calm down and looked at Koishi, giving her an amused expression yet her red eyes looked so distant. "When _onee-sama_ decided to put that red mist over Gensokyo, I met Reimu- _san_ and Marisa- _chan_ and they promised to play with me, which they always did. It was one of the best and happy moment of my life, knowing more people from outside the house. It was quite fun... at first. Finally after all those years, I have people to play with without breaking anything. But I still found myself very bored after some time since they cannot be there all the time and _onee_ - _sama_ was always on my case for doing certain things she dislikes. She did not want me to know how the outside was like. But after knowing a lot of things from Sakuya _-san_ and Patchouli _-san's_ books in the library on the outside world, I pleaded with _onee_ - _sama_ to let me go out, especially when I heard of the modern school Marisa- _chan_ mentioned. Guess what _onee_ - _sama_ did to me afterwards."

"S-she... put you back in the basement?" Koishi guessed reluctantly, sensing something bad if she did not answer.

"Oh you were absolutely correct, _**Onee-sama**_ **precisely did that,"** Flandre's eyes suddenly glowed bright red with pure hatred and anger while looking at Koishi.

Koishi was starting to regret answering that question. "She barred me from going out of the basement again so I would not know anymore of the outside world. She did not even say a single word to me at all. She just asked Sakuya- _san_ to forcefully sent me back. _**THAT OLDER SISTER OF MINE DON'T GIVE A DAMN MOMENT ABOUT ME AT ALL. NOT EVEN ONE FREAKING MINUTE OF IT!"**_

They have stopped walking and there was silence. Koishi noticed Flandre's eyes was glowing brighter each moment. Red aura could be seen around Flandre, her clothes were flowing as if there was wind even though there was barely any, as her magical power immediately increased to critical levels. Her wings glowed brightly with magical power.

"After that, I tried various ways to escape that place. Even if I had to bring down the mansion. But it always backfired," There was a pause before Flandre continued, almost screaming at the top of her voice.

" _ **I even threatened to kill my own sister. SHE TOTALLY DESERVED IT. FOR YEARS OF TRAPPING HER OWN SISTER LIKE SOME OUTSIDER IN A BASEMENT AND NOT EVEN VISITING ME ONCE.**_ **Maybe I should have done that if I got the time…"** Flandre beamed sadistically at that prospect, her eyes still radiating the same emotions while her voice echoed with power.

"Flan- _chan_ ," Koishi said.

" **Yes?"**

"Hold my hand," Koishi said.

" **What?"** Flandre replied, not registering what her best friend had said.

"I said hold my hand, you need it," Koishi repeat herself, more serious this time.

" **Ehh why... give me a…"**

Koishi grabbed Flandre's fingers and placed it on her hand, holding tightly, and quickly hugged her. The vampire eyes glowed dimmer along with the slow fading of the red aura.

"See our hands, feel our skin. you said we are similar," Koishi whispered to the vampire's ears. "Not only in our experiences but how we look like and feel too. I understand you have a bad memory of your own past. It's the same with me too. It...it made me angry at my own past self making all those decisions, hidden underground for decades just because I was scared to see what was outside. It makes me think often if I should have not closed my 3rd eye and... how different life would be then. But that was all in the past. Now here we are, we can decide what we want to do with our own life… together if you want. And I am sorry I ask you that. It made you recall things that you don't want to remember."

Both of them stayed silently for a few minutes. Only the sounds of fairies playing nearby and animals making mating calls could be heard in the distance. It was summer time after all, where most beings would be very active.

Flandre looked directly at Koishi. Her eyes no longer glowed red. The satori realised that Flandre was in tears, which fell like rain to the ground. She placed her shoulders on Flandre's head so the vampire could lean on her and cried out as much as she could. Flandre screamed. She wanted to let it all out. Her anger. Her regret. All she have felt during these times. The satori remained silent, also feeling the same on her own past but she held back her tears. She had already cried when she needed too last time.

"Honestly... I did not expect things to go this way. Like I never know someday I have a vampire as my best friend," Koishi whispered happily, after Flandre settled down a bit.

Flandre stopped leaning against Koishi, still having traces of tears and sniffing, slowly releasing their hug. "Me too. I never expect a former satori to be my best friend too."

The atmosphere was much more lighter than earlier. Both of them were not looking at each other afterwards, realising that they were now holding hands together. They were red on the cheeks and blushing hard but neither are looking at the other. They looked at their front and continued walking forward, enjoying the quiet nature, and having a silent happy moment while feeling the warm skin of their hands.

They reached a forked path in the Forest of Magic which they always separate to their respective homes. The duo were still holding hands, but more relaxed. By the time they reached the end of the fork, they released their grip.

"So…" Koishi said quietly, still red on the face. "I guess we will see each other tomorrow."

"Yeah," Flandre replied, sporting the same colour. "Thanks for stopping me."

"No problem. Um… goodbye then."

"Yeah, same to you…" Flandre still blushing hard and quickly turned and walked towards her mansion.

Koishi waved her hand and walked in the other direction. She was a bit far from her best friend when Flandre called out, "Koish _i-chan_!"

The satori turned quickly, "Yes?"

"I want to tell you something. Something I should have said to you last week. About you." Flandre paused, gathering her thoughts and courage.

"Um… how should I put this..."

Koishi waited patiently, her whole body freeze as though her body have anticipated before her mind could register what her best friend was about to say..

A loud high-pitched noise sounded from the sky, apparently a Master Spark from a certain black-white human magician was attacking some rouge youkai on the loose. Koishi saw the vampire's lips moved during the whole duration. As that occur, the vampire showed an expression the satori never seen before. It was the expression who was looking at someone who she cared deeply about. Who she always want to be with forever. Her red eyes were glowing and sparkling literally. There was a peaceful pink aura around the vampire. Even the wings were shining with warmth on them.

The Master Spark dissipated and Koishi could hear the magician flew away and throwing insults while riding her broomstick, chasing after the remaining of her prey.

"So yeah! I see you tomorrow!" Flandre shouted, and decided to run as she went back home.

Koishi stared for a long time until the figure of Flandre disappeared into the dense forest.

 _What did she say? That expression and that eyes of hers. It was something very special to her. And her aura around here, it was something I never seen before,_ Koishi thought. _I could somewhat read her lips but was it what I think it was?_

Not wanting to be interrupted by anything else, she walked down her own path, still deep in thought of what they have talked about, and in particular, what did Flandre wanted to tell her. After a few minutes, Koishi sensed a magical body nearby. It was unrecognisable. She looked up, alert and scanned while widening her senses for traces of any unusual living beings.

A shadow loomed near one of the trees on her right and it moved out of the shadows to reveal a teenage blond-haired girl. She was holding a thick brown book on one hand which Koishi read the title as 'Grimoire of Alice'. Her face gave no clear emotions. The satori wondered who she was, because she sensed almost pure youkai power from her and her book, yet she also felt some traces of human in this teenage girl. What kind of being is she?

Koishi immediately stood in a defensive stance, lowering and spreading her leg. The teenage girl chuckled quietly, with her eyes staring hard at Koishi. She stopped when she was a meter away from Koishi. Being almost twice the height of the satori, she looked down, her expression remained the same. The satori immediately realised her eyes was red. The same shade as Flandre. This was not a normal being she saw frequently. Not even youkai or gods. Her powers was more powerful than the satori herself. The girl began to speak.

"Good evening, Koishi Komeiji, or the Imaginary Personality Holder if you prefer your title. My name is Alice Margatroid. I need to talk to you regarding some personal things," Alice greeted nonchalantly.


	5. The Puppeteer and the Scarlet Devil

**Chapter 5: The Puppeteer and the Scarlet Devil**

* * *

"What do you want to talk about?" Koishi asked.

"It is about Flandre Scarlet," Alice replied with the same monotone voice.

Only Koishi was displaying some hostility towards this new stranger, especially with the mentioning of her best friend. Alice was standing casually, displaying no intention of attacking her. Koishi surveyed Alice carefully, taking note of her appearance.

Alice was wearing a light blue dress with white long sleeves and a pink ribbon that went around her neck and another around her waist. She was wearing socks with black boots. She wore a red band on her hair which have the same shade as her eyes, only lighter. If not for the eyes and the magical powers around her, Alice could easily pass off as some random gorgeous human teenage girl. Her eyes were red but even deeper shade than Flandre. While Flandre's fuel by warmth and kindness, these eyes were fueled by anger and hatred.

Still suspicious of the puppeteer, Koishi asked, "What about her?"

"Hmm... how close are you two at the moment? Or more specifically, have both of you start dating and going out yet?"

Koishi immediately stumbled on her stance. Why would someone she just met asked her that out of the blue? The satori blushed furiously as she answered. "We… we are just best friends. That's all."

"Oh really? I swear that I saw you guys holding hands together earlier…" Alice mumbled.

Koishi did not answer further, as she felt the heat coming up her body and her face becoming hotter, though the satori was not going to let down her guard yet. Alice could be some dangerous youkai who was out to attack her. The puppeteer sighed, disappointment clearly shown on her face. It seemed she was expecting the satori to have a more adequate answer than what she gave.

"And here I was thinking that both of you have gone further into your relationship. Too bad for both of us then. It looks like Satori and Remilia's plan will probably fail." Alice said.

"Wait," Koishi suddenly became alarmed with the mentioning of her sister. "What about my sister? What plan will fail?"

Alice stared at Koishi for a while. It was a few seconds when the puppeteer came to a sudden moment of epiphany. All of a sudden, she laughed loudly. A bit of tears coming out from her eyes, as she could not believe what she have heard. The satori was confused, thinking if she have said something wrong. She also wondered why Alice addressed her sister by the first name. If Satori and Alice were close to her, Koishi should have at least knew the puppeteer at some point.

"Wow I can't believe it! You have no idea at all, Koishi- _chan_! Seriously?" Alice laughed very hard, slapping her book with her other hand.

"No, I don't know w...what you are talking about," Koishi stammered, unsure of how to react, realising that Alice had just call her by her first name.

The puppeteer looked at the ground, presumably talking to someone who was not there physically with them.

"Fufufu… Satori, I cannot believe you went to such lengths to protect your sister. You just don't trust her with info for the sake of protecting you and Remilia."

 _Is she just using our first names to provoke me or is she truly quite close to them?_ Koishi thought.

Alice settled down and looked at Koishi's eyes directly, suddenly showing a serious expression on her face. "You see, Koishi- _chan_ , both you and your best friend's sister have plan something quite big and amazing. I am surprise Satori have not tell you even a single thing. About what is going to happen in Gensokyo soon."

"What… is going to happened?" Koishi asked.

"Listen to me, the Closed Eye of Love," Alice replied with a more threatening tone. "It is best that you stay away from that vampire friend of yours. Both you and your sister can be in big trouble if she were to get involved. An incident is arriving soon right here. Something that will affect the whole of Gensokyo and its future and it is best both of you stay safe in the Underworld."

"Why should I? I can stop with whatever that goes on between us, and why should some inconsiderate youkai girl care about us anyway?" Koishi retorts.

"You should and I should too… for various reasons I cannot say yet. If not, you will have to face me along the way. The Witch of Death or more popular known as the Seven-Coloured Puppeteer. Though I prefer the former title when I am like this, especially with this book," Alice said affectionately, caressing her grimoire.

Koishi was beginning to believe her. She could tell that there were some truth in her words. This puppeteer, her power that she radiated was quite strong, maybe more than the satori herself. It would be obvious to anyone who passed by a few hundred meters away to notice her right away. Then why she did not sense Alice's presence earlier? Is she getting rusty with her power for days of not being using much of it lately?

"Its up to you to believe me. I am just here to warn you of what Satori and Remilia have plan for Gensokyo. Even that red shrine maiden and that old purple youkai have almost no clue of what is going on at the moment...," Alice paused.

Something suddenly clicked inside Koishi. She wanted to know if this Alice know a lot more than that. It's simple to do. She just need to read the puppeteer's mind. Her subconsciousness, the part of the mind that could be saying differently from her main conscious.

" _Tsk tsk tsk… "_ Alice said in her mind like a parent would be scolding a child. " _Doing mind tricks are we? A child who knows nothing shouldn't do that."_

Then, there was a part of Alice memory deep in her subconsciousness came to her. Koishi froze after seeing what she read in that memory.

" _Yes, what you seeing was true,"_ Alice's face smiled sadistically, licking her mouth with drool slowly forming, and her red eyes glowing a bit brighter. " _I was the one that provides the simulation needed for Flandre Scarlet to get aggressive at you, hoping she would destroy you there, in that spot. Such a cliche death wouldn't it? Then your sister and hers will suspect one another and try to kill the other by not using the spell card system, which will be easy considering they are quite powerful on their own. Unfortunately, it looks like your friendship are closer than what I thought it would be."_

Koishi took a few steps backwards, stunned. How did Alice knew that she have read her deep thoughts? And somehow Koishi could not get in deeper to find out this impending incident Alice was talking about. It was like it never existed there at the first place.

" _I do know of the incident, but it was not from_ _ **MY**_ _memory. I merely anticipated what you were going to do, that's all. After All, I am more powerful than either of you, I believe. But I am also a nice and sweet person. That was why I came to you first. I am giving you a chance to turn back."_ Alice kept her sadistic tone, fully thrilled with the reaction the satori was doing.

Koishi slowly moved backwards, while Alice moved forward towards the satori, getting closer to her due to her longer legs. The satori came to realise that the puppeteer was no ordinary youkai. She was definitely more than just a simple youkai magician. But she did not sense the power of a god. The fact she knew Koishi was reading her deeper side of her thoughts was something not of the ordinary. Never have she approached a living being that have such skills.

 _Alice Margatroid…,_ Koishi thought to herself. _Why have I not heard of her if the others knew her? And she even mentioned my sister by name, meaning they should be quite close to one another and with Flandre's sister too._

Koishi tripped on the dirt path and fell on her bottom.

"So, now you know what you should do right?" Alice said loudly this time round.

Koishi looked at Alice, fear slowly coming to her. She realised the gravity of the situation. If Alice were to attack her in this place, she could be gravely hurt from all the danmaku that could be thrown to her. And Koishi knew that she have little chance to get away or even defeat Alice.

"Hmm... no answer. Well I am sure that idiotic sister of yours, who do not even trust you will tell you, but I doubt she will ever have such intentions any time soon."

The young satori's eyes immediately showed anger in them and she stood up, totally forgetting on whether she could defeat the puppeteer.

"Shut up. I don't care what she is hiding but don't you dare insult my sister!" Koishi shouted at her, as she floated a few meters above the ground.

"Why should I, it is true isn't it? Why would a sister hide something this big that involve the life of her family member? That is because she doesn't trust you. I pity you, Koishi _-chan_ to have such a sister who like to keep secrets from you." Alice said casually, not being affected by Koishi's sudden rise in anger.

Koishi had enough of this conversation. Whatever Alice was trying to do, Koishi decided, she was just probably messing with her mind. Koishi magically summoned a card into her hand. " _Spell Card: instinct "Release of the Id!""_

Pink bullet hearts sprouted around Koishi and immediately directed them at Alice, curving and slowing down as it came near her who was standing no further than 20 meters away. Alice easily jumped over the bullets and dodged it easily like the spell card was her simple plaything. She did not even bother flying. Her face showed that she was enjoying Koishi showing her anger like this.

"Fufufu… I am not playing with your mind, Koishi _-chan_. I am merely telling the truth." Alice said as she slowly walked towards Koishi, not affected by the fact she have been attacked.

Koishi increased the intensity of her bullets, directing more and more towards Alice. The puppeteer sidestepped all the way to the right of the satori as hearts crisscrossed near the puppeteer. By the time Alice reached to Koishi's right side of her original position, the spell card was close to being timed out. The satori, realising there was not much time left, decided to use a non-spell attack. She shot out many small pink bullets in small groups of 5, that slanted and increased in speed as they approached Alice. The puppeteer easily dodged all of them moving left then right repeatedly and a few seconds later, she completely disappeared from sight.

Koishi immediately ceased her attack when she did not sense Alice's presence anymore. Her magical signature had just disappeared. She looked around, to see if Alice was hiding her magical presence.

" _Fufufu… You could have done better than that, I am sure of it,"_ Alice laughed, now talking to Koishi in the puppeteer's mind. " _I will say I am quite disappointed with what I see. Now it's my turn. 1 strike and we are done with this little chat."_

Suddenly, when Koishi turned her body to the direction away from where was heading, a blurred image of yellow and white instantly appeared in front of her and hit her stomach area extremely hard. Koishi flew about a hundred meters backwards, sliding her body across the dirt path and rolling a few meters more before stopping sideways. She remained still, feeling pain from the long slide and the attack on the satori's middle body. Her shirt on her back was torn off, exposing her pale skin, but no injuries.

Alice crouched next to Koishi and wanted to do something to her when she stopped as she noticed something on Koishi.

"No bra?" Alice sounded _extremely_ disappointed, like it was the saddest thing she ever seen after seeing the exposed back. "I cannot believe you have no sex appeal just like your older sister. She is already flat-chested and no hope of growing."

Koishi coughed up blood as she thought of what to say. "You are looking at… a youkai who looks... like a 10-year-old human girl and born much later than her sister. What were you expecting?"

"I thought you would be obsess with growing those assets, seeing that your sister have fail drastically in that department already. It will be amazing and hilarious if the older sister found out that the younger sister was more developed there." Alice sounded like she was going to cry.

"I do thought of that, you pervert. I drink... milk thrice daily. Give me a few more decades and you will see they will be larger than yours. And why are you sounding like you are going to cry... " Koishi replied in irritation, her face slightly flustered.

Alice shrugged while looking at her own chest, which was bigger than most girls here. She did not ask for those, and it was a quite troublesome for her, since it was hard to find her size in Gensokyo. So she have hers custom-made by herself.

Then, she slided to the front of the satori. "Anyway, like I said earlier. Your sister is really a stupid person. Even that Remila friend of hers. What you see here was just a little of what I can do."

Koishi raised her head up, her eyes coming to a sadistic Alice, while the bright red eyes looking down on her while crouching. The puppeteer gave a dark red and black aura around her, radiating untamed magic inside her. She raised the satori's shirt to see her mid-section. She used her right hand and touch the skin right below her bellybutton.

"Hmm… I guess I can do this now given the opportunity…" Alice whispered.

Koishi sensed magical energy swirling near the area where Alice have her hand and it penetrated through the skin. She controlled the pain and hold back from letting out any sound. She have no idea what Alice was doing to her as the latter was muttering some magic words. A full minute later, the puppeteer stopped releasing magic and released her hand.

"There, now my own plans are almost complete," Alice said. "Remember my words, Imaginary Personality Holder, if you do not want to be in any trouble, don't get too close to tha younger Scarlet. For you and your sister's safety, let yourself intentionally remain in the dark and try not to know what your sister is trying to hide from you. You were always like that, listening to your sister and never questioning her decision and motives, so it's best you keep that up even now."

Koishi froze. No way Alice could know her past. Only Satori and her pets should be the one that only knew of it.

"Yes, I know all your little secrets, Koishi _-chan._ The reason why you did this, to go to school. That event when you directly killed all your…"

" **Don't say it, heartless Puppeteer."** Koishi said menacingly, with a distinctive echo while her eyes struggled to glow but could not go further as she was already drained of energy.

"Oh… now I am the heartless person. If the memories serve me right, you are the one that was used to be so heartless to anything that happened to others. That is why everyone are afraid of you right, Koishi _-chan_?"

" **Shut up, you piece of shi...,"**

" _Watch your language young satori."_ It was the puppeteer turn to show hints of anger. "I will not tolerate profanities until you know what is going on around you. Then, I can see you as an equal worth insulting me with those words."

Koishi coughed out more blood and struggled to sit up. She was a youkai, she should not be hurt from normal human injuries like this. Even when she slide across the dirt path. What did Alice did to her? What was up with her untamed magic?

"All right, Koishi _-chan_ ," Alice said, changing to her sweet voice. "Its nice talking to you. And I'm sorry I have to hurt you like this. I sincerely do. It would not have happen if you did not attack me first. Goodbye, and hopefully we don't cross path anymore. Remember what I have said to you today."

With that, Alice disappeared into thin air. Koishi laid down for 10 minutes to confirm that Alice was not returning. Then she sat up, looking in the direction where Alice came from, slowly sorting out what happened during the encounter. Suddenly, Koishi saw her body shivered and her hands shaking violently as if she was hit by a snowstorm. Her body became cold and numb even though it was a hot summer afternoon.

For the first time ever, the young satori felt very scared.

* * *

Koishi went home literally dashing and flew to the underground heading to the Palace of the Earth Spirits, crashing through anything and anyone. She did not care about whether she would be in trouble or worsen her injuries. All in her mind now was to run away as far as possible from the puppeteer and stay in her room where she would be safe from any danger.

Rin Kaenbyou, one of Satori's pets was the one who saw Koishi first in her state when the satori reached home. What she saw stunned her, as Koishi was displaying clear emotions of fear on her face. Her shirt was soaked with blood and a flow of it also trailing from her mouth, making a small pool when Koishi waited at the door. Rin never saw her in this state before, even after the worst battles that she knew of. The fact Koishi clearly show she was afraid of something in her face made her more worried. It was something she rarely see of the satori who was the master of hiding her feelings and thoughts.

Without saying anything, Koishi flew into her room and locked the door tightly. Rin followed her and kept knocking on her door hard, demanding what had happened. This attracted the attention of 2 other residents of the mansion.

"Mmmhhh… Orin _-chan_ … what are you doing being so noisy in the evening like this…" asked a clear sleepy Utsuho, a hell raven.

"Yeah, Rin. What's going on with Koishi?" Satori asked, the mistress of the mansion.

Rin quickly turned to Satori, panic showing on her face. "Satori _-sama_! Koishi _-sama,_ she's... something is very wrong with her!"

"What happened?" Satori asked, concerned immediately shown in her voice.

"When she… she arrived home, her face… she have fear written all over her face… and her body, it looks like something scary happened to her, and she is injured badly. And I mean really, really badly as if she was not a youkai at all."

"What? She is not playing pranks like how she usually did?" Satori said, almost shouting.

"She's not. This time it is real. That was what I saw. She… well..."

"Say no more Rin, I read what you were about to say. I can see why it was shocking to you. That is no ordinary injury, given the blood flow from the mouth and that big tear of her clothes on her back," Satori finally understood the situation from reading Rin's mind.

Satori walked to Koishi's door and tried to turn the knob, which was locked tightly. She knocked the door softly.

"Open up, Koishi," Satori said gently with concerned in her voice. "We have to talk. I know something very bad and big that must have happened to you and left you being scared of it. It also got you injured badly by the looks of it."

No response. Satori repeated the same thing 2 more times before giving up.

"It seems she needs time for herself. Let's go," Satori said to her pets.

"But is it ok to leave her alone like this? Shouldn't we treat her injuries immediately?" Utsuho asked, concerned about her mistress's sister condition.

"It's ok. If that was a normal wound with no hidden magic, she should be able to heal in an hour or 2. So she should be able to go back to normal in time for dinner. I know her well, she's my own blood sister after all," Satori replied monotonously with slight hints of concerned.

They eventually left the area outside Koishi's room.

* * *

In Koishi's room, the satori was on her bed, curled up and hiding behind her blankets. She was still wearing her torn clothes.

Her room was quite plain. There was no need for a youkai to follow human ways of decorating their room. All she need was a bed, a cupboard for her clothes and a body-length mirror for her room.

She cried silently and her body kept shaking from fear. She was terribly scared. The thought of Alice coming back to face her was terrible to her. The puppeteer reminded her of her own unpleasant and guilty past which she did not want to be remember. She was not completely over with it yet.

The other thing was that the puppeteer have proved that Koishi could not defeat her. At least if it was a one-on-one battle. It was too much of a one-sided fight. The satori stood no chance at all as she was injured badly with just one attack from Alice. This injury was something that should not happened. Due to the spell card system, mock battles rarely ended with terrible injuries, mostly bruises, scratch marks were the end product with the biggest being the ripping of clothes. After all, it's just their body were of toukai level, not their clothes.

Koishi had failed to notice Alice's presence at all. That made her believed that Alice was no ordinary youkai magician. Neither was she a god or a human. That made her afraid to go out to see her again. Without knowing Alice real full identity or what was the extend of the powers, Alice could come back to haunt her anytime and killed her on the spot without mercy. She could have killed the satori easily since it was clear the former did not even follow the spell card rules at all. Her battle aimed to strike for the kill, not a mock one.

The last thing that was on her mind was what Alice had said. That her older sister did not tell her something that Koishi should know. She was her own younger sister. Why was she being left out in the dark like this? Wasn't she also her family member? The only one remaining at that?

Koishi recalled what Alice had said clearly, " _Why should I, it is true isn't it? Why would a sister hide something this big that involve the life of her family member? That is because she doesn't trust you. I pity you, Koishi-chan to have such a sister who like to keep secrets from you."_

Was Alice stating the truth or was she just saying that so the Koishi would start to not believe her own sister anymore? Koishi curled herself tighter, as her mind became more confused and she felt more scared and depressed than ever. Her thoughts was constantly swarmed with fear and it would be some time before she could calm down.

She continued crying and sniffled silently in her bed, putting her arms across her belly which felt painful with the blood spreading to the bed sheets with no signs of stopping from the injury, while her coughing of blood have reduced to merely small cough fits. She held back the pain, knowing that it would take her a while for her body to return to normal.

 _How great it would be if Flandre were to be with me now. She would know what to do,_ Koishi thought painfully.

* * *

It was dinner time at the the mansion and Koishi was seating together with Satori, Rin and Utsuho in a circular table eating dinner. There was silence between them except for the sound of utensils and plates hitting one another. Rin and Utsuho constantly glanced at one another and then at Koishi with big concern in their faces. Meanwhile, Koishi glanced at each one of them, trying to see what they were feeling and thinking about her.

Rin Kaenbyou (火焔猫 燐), also known as the Hell's Traffic Accident. Commonly called by her nickname as Orin, she belonged to an uncommon species of youkai known as kasha. For her looks, the kasha have black cat ears and dark red eyes, with fiery red hair styled into twin braids and adorned by black ribbons at the top and bottom of the braids. She wears a black decorated dress with green frills.

Utsuho Reiuji (霊烏路 空), also known as the Scorching Troublesome Divine Flame. She also have a nickname, Okuu (おくう) and she was one of the more well-known hell ravens in Gensokyo. Her powers derived from nuclear fusion, acquired during an earlier incident where she planned to take over the world. With the left leg, 'the Leg of Decomposition' and the right leg, 'The leg of Fusion', therefore by that which controls this, the right arm's 'third leg', 'The Control Cod and Fuel Rod, she could initiate nuclear fusion in her own body. The hell raven have long dark brown hair and wears a white short-sleeved shirt with a red "eye" in the center, a short green skirt, and a green hair-ribbon. On her right arm, she wore a device reminiscent of a nuclear control rod. She also wears a cape that's white on the outside and a starry pattern on the inside; the cape was kept aloft by her black wings. Her right foot was encased in congealed matter, representing the "elephant's foot" of Chernobyl, a mass of cooled radioactive material and glass. Her left ankle was orbited by electrons.

And finally, the mistress of the Former Hell, Satori Komeiji (さとり 古明地), The Girl Even the Vengeful Spirits Fear.

Her appearance bears a lot of resemblance to Koishi since both were blood sisters. She have short, purple hair with a black headband and purple eyes. A red "third eye" was positioned over her heart, with cords running to her head and wrists. Similar to her sister in design, she wore blue shirt with yellow heart buttons and pink collar, a pink skirt with faint flowery pattern and pink slippers. Thus, like Koishi, if she was seen from afar, it was easy to recognise her immediately.

Personally, she also considered Rin and Utsuho as part of her family. They have been together for a very long time as Koishi could remember and were always there for her. But the recent events set Koishi's mind in a spin, and there was the beginning of doubts of her life she was living in at the present moment.

Meanwhile, Satori was eating her dinner with her eyes closed, savoring the food as if nothing have happened. Not that she did not care or worry for her sister, Koishi knew that was how her sister always act. Satori took pride and always act strict and serious in her work and with her position as the mistress of Former Hell. If she wanted to, she would do whatever it took to make sure her younger sister and her home was safe. But deep inside, she believed Satori always cared for everyone in this place though she rarely would not show it on the outside.

It was only much later when Koishi was almost done eating when she decided to speak up, "Um… _Onee-chan_?"

"Yes, Koishi?" Satori opened one eye at her younger sister.

"I know you are wondering what happened earlier… and umm…"

The other 3 waited for Koishi to decide on what she wanted to say.

"I want you to know that I believe and trust every decision you make for us. You know what is best for me. And everyone here in this place too. I know you are really worried about me, but...is it possible to give me some time to think about it?" Koishi's voice get softer every few words.

Satori placed the utensils she was holding and observed Koishi, trying to see if there was anything she could make out from Koishi. Since she could not read her sister's mind, she tried it with observing the body expression and the face, which Koishi was a master in hiding them well.

"How long?" Satori asked neutrally.

"Give me a day. I promised to tell you tomorrow once I get back home from school. I just need time to gather my thoughts," Koishi replied.

"Sure. I will wait," Satori replied without hesitation.

Koishi's shoulders relaxed and looked like she never felt relieved for years. "Thanks, _onee-chan_."

Satori nodded without giving out any hints that it mattered. She picked up her plates and utensils and carried them to the kitchen to wash them. Utsuho and Rin followed suit.

"Are you sure that's ok?" Koishi heard Rin asked.

"Yes, Rin. And that one too, Utsuho," Satori replied, knowing what both of them wanted to say from their mind. "Sometimes it's best to wait to allow her to decide for herself. My dear sister is no longer a child."

"If you say so, Satori _-sama._ It's just…"

Satori placed a hand on Rin's shoulder. " I understand why you are so worried. It is not going to be like last time."

Rin was still not entirely convinced by Satori's reassurance but she did not said anything further about it.

With that, Koishi slipped back quietly to her room, not trying to think of what Satori had just said and leave what happened today to the side. She would think of it tomorrow. She was mentally and physically exhausted, most of it in the energy she needed to heal herself. She still have no clue what Alice have done to her earlier.

Just too many things have happened today.

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Flandre said, still not believing her ears.

Koishi, Flandre, Parsee and Yamame were sitting around Koishi's and Yamame's table during lunch time. Their respective lunch boxes were on the table. Parsee's box consisted of a yellow cover with a green bottom. A picture of a bridge and flowers could be seen on one side.

Flandre was folding her arms, sporting an unbelievable expression of the fact the hashihime was with them. Koishi maintained her neutral composure and showed no reaction of what was occurring in front of her eyes. Yamame was showing an amused expression while Parsee was looking away, blushing and trying to show that she was not agreeing with this set up that Yamame have proposed to all of them.

Flandre stared coldly at Parsee. The hashihime, noticing the glare, retorts, "It's not like I came up with this idea! I envy how you can be friends with Kurodani _-san_ and…and I want to join in too!"

The vampire and the hashihime did a silent staring match for a while before Yamame spoke up.

"Calm down, Flandre _-chan_. Mizuhashi _-san_ just want to be friends with us," Yamame said, trying to reassure Flandre.

"Yeah, right. Then later she insults Koishi _-chan_ again and not being nice to us," Flandre said coldly, still maintaining direct eye contact with Parsee.

Yamame sighed in exasperation. Only one other person she knew could convince the vampire. She turned to the satori, "Koishi _-chan_ , you don't mind this, do you?"

Koishi gave a thought before answering, "I do not. I've seen her a lot of times at my place but I think I have gotten use to her already. I can always give this idea a try."

"See Flandre- _chan_ , even Koishi- _chan_ don't mind. Like I said earlier, we talked on a lot of things yesterday. She asked me about how I was able to be friendly and popular with the class. And I suggested to her that she can try making friends, starting with both of you. And I will promise you, Mizuhashi _-san_ will no longer treat you guys as what she did to you before. She will try to change on her own."

But Flandre was still stubborn, "Koishi _-chan_ , you seriously consider this? You of all people…"

Koishi leaned and placed her hand on Flandre's shoulder, "It's ok, Flan _-chan_. Give her some time. I did consider about this friendship issue with Mizuhashi _-san_ before and this is a good opportunity to start."

Flandre stared at Koishi, thinking if this was the best friend she knew. She found it strange why Koishi found it so easy to agree to this setup. She glanced at Parsee then back to Koishi before deciding.

"Fine!" Flandre gave in, raising her hands in surrender. "I'll just go along. But if you dare insult Koishi _-chan_ again Mizuhashi _-san,_ I will…"

"Just forget about it, will you?" Parsee said fiercely. "If you want a personal apology from me then I will just do that ok?"

The table stayed silent for a while. Koishi and Yamame observed the other 2. It felt like they were in a hot room, with 2 distinctive boilers that they cannot escape from. Yamame finally said, "This is great. Let's eat shall we? I am quite hungry already."

Then all 4 of them started eating. But during those moments, Flandre just kept staring closely at Parsee regularly, still suspicious of Parsee's actions. Meanwhile, the hashihime ignored her and focused on consuming her lunch while chatting with Yamame once in awhile.

 _I guess Flan-chan can be quite mature too,_ Koishi laughed in her own thoughts. T _hat's the Flandre Scarlet I know anyway, always looking out for her friends._

After they finished eating, they went to their respective seats to prepare for their next lesson. As Koishi waited for the lunch hour to end and Akyuu to arrive, she looked hard at her table while deep in thought. Flandre who was already beginning to look for things to play noticed this immediately.

"Koishi _-chan_ , what are you thinking?" Flandre asked curiously.

"Oh um… nothing much. Just thinking how fast my life change for this past 1 week… slightly more than 1 week to be accurate," Koishi replied.

"I see… same for me. Ever since you came, a lot have change for me too."

Neither of them talked for a while. Koishi kept thinking about yesterday, how she felt scared and on her mix thoughts on Flandre and her older sister. As her injuries have healed yesterday, her friends have no idea of what happened yesterday. Koishi was not planning to tell them either, not as if they could do anything about it. Suddenly, Koishi felt something light tapping at the top of her head.

The satori looked up realising that Flandre was doing a head pat on her. The vampire was smiling sincerely at her, probably trying to tell her not to think too much about whatever her best friend was thinking so seriously. Koishi returned the smile, pushed the vampire's hand away and placed her hand on the same hand, and the other on the hat which goes down to her fringe. Koishi closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of their hand and how smooth the vampire's skin felt. Yamame and Parsee who was talking, stopped and looked at them. The tsuchigumo sighed and shook her head, seeing how heart-warming the scene was. It was comforting to know that Flandre cared for Koishi a lot. No one would have expect 2 of some of the most powerful youkai in Gensokyo, a vampire and satori which likely to be enemies, would be close friends some day.

That was when suddenly, Koishi felt something bit her hand. She slowly opened her eyes. What she saw made her felt a bit irritated but amused at the same time.

Flandre was biting Koishi's hand, and chewing it with an adorable and playful expression. She seemed extremely thrilled biting it, oblivious to the satori's pain and annoyance.

"Flandre- _chan,_ " Koishi called out, raising her voice a little.

"Wooht?" Flandre sounded muffled, still biting her hand innocently.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Just biting your hand, see? Your hand is the only entertainment I could find at the moment. That was why you touch my hand right?" Flandre said removing her mouth to speak and insert it back again, biting more harder than before.

Koishi sighed in exasperation and looked at the window, letting her best friend enjoying her moment of innocence and childishness.

 _Some things will always remain the same, do they,_ Koishi thought. _And I hope it will last forever._

* * *

Koishi headed home underground and before she could even knock the door of her mansion, it slammed opened fast.

Rin was standing, scanning up and down at Koishi, with a very worried and concerned look at her face. Then, she immediately hugged Koishi hard.

"Eh… Orin, what… is going…" Koishi asked, struggling hard with Rin's hugging.

"I am just worried for you, Koishi- _sama._ It's because of yesterday, I was afraid you may have done some dangerous things to yourself today again," Rin replied, sounded like she was crying.

Koishi paused. She did not really expect Rin to get this worried about her. After all, her true master was Satori, not her.

That was when suddenly an explosion was heard from behind her and Koishi suddenly felt some strong winds and heat coming from that direction. Before she knew it, something hit her hard and they crashed to one side of the door, almost breaking it.

"Oh Koishi _-sama,_ you are back!" Utsuho almost shouted, leaning on Koishi and placing her hands on her shoulders.

"Yeah yeah… ouch Okuu… your wings..." Koishi said, feeling the same with Rin's hug.

Utsuho sat up immediately and apologised. Koishi stood up to reassure her that everything was alright. Utsuho tapped her head repeatedly, wondering why she was worried about Koishi at the first place. Apparently, hell ravens in Gensokyo have short-term memories.

Rin and Koishi laughed at Utsuho reaction, who pouted with irritation, demanding to know what had happened yesterday.

"Well, Okuu, you being worried about me is enough for me. Same for you, Rin. You are still the same worrywort as you usually are," Koishi said, after settling down.

Rin clasped her hands together and face down, feeling embarrassed of the fact her master's younger sister was praising her, "You know… that is how I am…"

 _Onee-chan, you should praise your pets once in awhile or they will die of embarrassment when I do to them all the time,_ Koishi thought, grinning at the possibility.

Koishi sighed. Rin was always like this. She was worried about Utsuho when the incident of the hell raven getting the the power of nuclear fusion with Kanako Yasaka's help, and she have to send signals to the aboveground for help, which eventually was resolved without much trouble. (Even though it led to another one involving the Myouren Temple). There were other numerous occasion she reacted the same way too. The satori wondered if this characteristic of the kasha would be bad or good for her in the long term.

"Let's go in, shall we?" Koishi said.

Rin and Utsuho nodded happily and the trio went inside the mansion, which led to a huge open hall. There are various large door on each side of the hall. That was when a door opened on their left and emerged 2 beings that Koishi have never seen before. They did not sense Koishi, only her 2 companions.

One of them was much taller than the other. The tall one was definitely a human, being the same height as Utsuho and she wears some kind of a blue-white maid outfit. The other one, when Koshi looked in general, she thought she saw Flandre for a moment being the same height and looked a lot like her, yet her attire was very different, being having much less red clothing on her and wearing a different cap. The satori was certain she was a vampire like Flandre.

Koishi looked at her intently, trying to figure out who they were and what they are doing in the house. She opened up her presence in front of the 2 visitors, barely causing any reaction from them. Before she could even utilize her subconscious-reading abilities, the vampire spoke up, "You must be Koishi Komeiji."

Koishi eyed at her suspiciously,wondering how she knew her name, "And who the heck are you?"

The human maid reacted immediately, "Don't you dare address _ojou-sama_ like…"

The youkai raised her hand, silencing the maid. She gave Koishi an interested look.

" _I am not surprised that she did not recognised me. It's been a long time after all."_ the youkai's mind said as Koishi listened. " _No matter, I will introduce myself to her as if I seen her for the first time."_

The vampire paused before answering Koishi's question with a slight bow and use her hands to spread the edges of her skirt, doing an old western greeting.

"My name is Remilia Scarlet, with the Scarlet Devil as my title. I am a vampire. I am also the older sister of Flandre Scarlet, the only other vampire in Gensokyo you have made friends with in your school."


	6. First Conflict

**A/N: So a lot things to say.**

 **Things have not been according to plan and the schedule to release the next chapters have messed up terribly due to unforeseen circumstances as a new fanfic author. However, there have been a few readers who told me that I need to improve my grammer especially tenses and pointed out examples of them. I want to say thank you so much for doing so and hope these words were enough.**

 **Thus, I have been spending the last 2 weeks editing chapter 1-5 for better story flow, and correcting grammar mistakes, though I am bound to missed some of them. However, I am still striving to improve on this language as much as I can, so updates will change from every 3-5 days to every 1 week to allow me to have more time to correct any errors in the future chapters.**

 **With that, I hope for whoever have been with me this far, continue to do so as it is going to be one long journey, and I never ever stop till I reach the end. I already got the rough story in my mind of how this will go so I am not going to waste the amount of time and effort on something I have been so passionate about.**

 **With that I thank you for reading this long speech by me and hope to read and hear feedback from more people.**

 **~Youmu2hu**

 **Chapter 6: First Conflict**

* * *

Remilia Scarlet (レミリア・スカーレット), also known by her infamous title, the Scarlet Devil. As the sister of Flandre Scarlet, it was expected for her to wear similarly. She have red eyes, the same shade as her sister, short light-blue hair and a light-pink mob cap with a red ribbon decorated with white stripes. She wears a light-pink dress with a red ribbon on both sleeves, a large red ribbon behind her waist with white stripes and a necklace featuring a Caduceus-like centerpiece. She also have a pair of large black bat-like wings on her back with a wingspan wider than her height.

Sakuya Izayoi (咲夜 十六夜), among many of her titles, lies the Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She have bright red eyes, silver hair worn in long braids on both sides of her face with green bows at the ends and a white maid headband. She wears a white and dark blue French maid's outfit with an apron, short sleeves and a green ribbon.

Koishi examined her guests and looked through their subconscious minds to ensure Remilia was telling the truth before returning to her normal composure. What Remilia had said was still fresh in her mind.

 _We met before? How come I do not remember?_ Koishi thought.

Remilia continued, motioning her hand to the tall human, "And here is my human servant, Sakuya Izayoi. She is known by many titles so I suppose the Perfect and Elegant Maid would best describe her."

 _"Ojou-sama_ … I don't deserve such praise," Sakuya said and bowed deeply, which Remilia dismissed it with her hand.

"I am sorry, Miss Scarlet for disrespecting you earlier. I have to ensure that you were no enemy," Koishi said monotonously.

In reality, the satori did hold some animosity towards the Scarlet Devil due to what Flandre and Alice have told her. She knows that she was being quite unreasonable for someone whom she have just met, but the satori could not believe that the politeness the vampire showed so far would be the same person who trapped her younger sister in the basement for 495 years.

Koishi decided, as Remilia was her guest and she was a host as a resident of the mansion, Remilia should be treated respectfully and kept her personal feelings towards Remilia hidden. She would not want to ruin the relationship of Satori and Remilia just because she did not really like her.

"You are nice, Koishi. Calling me in western customs. I appreciate that, though it will be better if you call me as how you address everyone in Japanese." Remilia said.

Technically, Remilia was much older than Koishi. Thus, the mentioning by the first name was appropriate. Even if they look like they were of the same age.

"You are welcome, Miss Scarlet. But I find it more respectful to your former customs if I call you this way," Koishi insisted.

"Hmph… up to you. I am fine either way."

Koishi knew this custom from her lessons on Western Civilisation which Akyuu covered for a while.

There was a slight pause when Satori came out from the same door where Remilia and Sakuya first appeared. She was deep in thought but seeing her friend, she ran to them, skipping along the way.

"Oh Remi- _chan_ , I thought you had left already!" Satori called out in a sweet, lovely voice. "Why are you still here… ooh…"

The pin had finally dropped, resulting in an awkward silence. Rin and Utsuho opened their mouth widely, shocked by her mistress behavior, while the Scarlet Devil giggled at the reaction she was witnessing.

"Ahem… ummm," Satori quickly returned to her usual stern mistress manner. "I mean, Remilia, I thought you had already left. May I know why you are still here?"

Remilia turned to Satori, still finding the situation hilarious, "I was just introducing myself and Sakuya to your sister, that's all. We were just about to leave when I met her here."

"I see. I think it's good that she knows you. I shall accompany you to the exit of the Underworld."

"No need to, Satori. We can do so by ourselves. Take care, everyone," Remilia smiled and motioned her maid to follow her.

The 2 guests bowed and left the mansion. Silence ensues between the remaining group in the main hall. Satori slowly turned to the others.

"I swear if you told anyone what you saw…", Satori warned, sounding like she was going to murder someone.

"You do not have to worry, _onee-chan._ I do not think anyone else besides us will be interested to know if you have that side of you," Koishi replied in the same monotonous tone, looking seemingly uninterested. "Though it will be nice if you show that side to your sister too."

How nice this place would be if you did that here too instead of just with Remilia, Koishi thought, imagining her eyes rolling.

Luckily, Satori could not read her mind. She was stumped, not knowing what to say to defend herself. The younger satori sighed, "Like I promise yesterday, I need to tell you what happened."

"Right, _that promise you agreed._ " Satori returned to her normal composure instantly. "We will do it after dinner. Rin, help me prepare our dinner."

"Yes, Satori- _sama_."

Rin and Satori head to the kitchen while Utsuho and Koishi went to Koishi's room, where they played some card games together to spend time waiting for dinner to be prepared.

* * *

After dinner, Satori called up her sister to the office. Her office was never short of impressive, in Koishi's opinion. Ever since the modernisation of Gensokyo occurred, the mistress of Former Hell decided to integrate the trend with her workplace, hence it looked like a real modern office room. Neat piles of paper were seen on her desk, along with a telephone that mostly linked to the Underworld and her clients for her work. There was a sofa and table at one side, being used only if Satori wanted to serve snacks for her clients or guests. There were bookshelves of files and books on the other side. Her room was colourfully decorated with mixture of purple and pink, with a pretty heart-decorated purple chair for herself.

Satori sat at her chair, and also prepared another chair in the opposite side of her desk, grey-greenish in colour. Guess who she specifically made this chair in mind.

As they were in the office, Koishi have a lot of things going on in her mind. _Should I tell her everything? Even including my encounter with Alice? What if… Satori bans me from ever going out just for the sake for being safe? Will I ever get to see Flan-chan, Yamame-chan and Mizuhashi-san anymore?_

This bothered her a lot as she did not want to have any more change to her current comfortable lifestyle. It was already good and she wished it would be like this for as long she attends school.

Koishi's mind went into a bit of a panic mode when Satori made herself comfortable in her own chair and looked at Koishi expectantly. Koishi quickly maintained her usual demeanor.

Koishi waited for her sister to start. Satori leaned on her chair, hands folded across her almost non-existent womanly chest, and maintained a look of seriousness on her face.

"So, as promised, you wanted to tell me about what happened yesterday. Do tell me everything."

Koishi nodded and started. She started on to her goals of why she went to school, which what she did mention to her when she requested permission from Satori. It was to meet new people, especially making friends. She did not want be alone anymore, wondering around and left out of everything. She wanted to be there for someone, and that someone could also rely on her for help. So that her life to others could at least be useful in the end if anything bad were to happen. Then, she mentioned the long conversation on the way home with Flandre, and how Flandre got angry about her own life and Koishi was able to calm her down.

 _No, my own sister is not Remilia. She will never think about keeping me here. Onee-chan is different. What Flandre had told me should not bother me at all,_ Koishi thought as she ended her tale.

Koishi decided to tell Satori everything, even about Alice. At first, Satori expressed shocked and concern but after hearing more from Koishi, she settled down.

When Koishi finished talking, they sat in the room for a long time, as Satori took sometime to digest all the information. At that moment, Koishi was glad she have told her sister everything. She did not want to be like what Alice had said of her own sister,

 _"Why should I, it is true isn't it? Why will a sister hide something this big that involve the life of her family member? That is because she doesn't trust you. I really pity you Koishi-chan to have such a sister."_

And Alice said that very casually, as if that truth was something Koishi should take it lightly.

If what Alice had said was true, all the more Koishi would not want to follow Satori's example. All her life she have been listening and trusting her sister fully and obediently and never questioning what she had decided for both of them. Satori was the only other person that she have as a blood-related family member and she did not want to regret changing her beliefs if anything bad were to happen between them. She believed that Satori would never forsake their relationship and safety for anything else. There must be some reason why her own sister was not telling her yet.

Satori finished her thought and started talking, this time round, with a bit of kindness and empathy in her voice, "I will not say much. Rather I ask this of you, do you still trust me that I will make a good decision for both of us?"

 _Trust her completely,_ Koishi thought. _Just how long have I been doing that anyway?_

It was a difficult question. Maybe before she would not hesitantly said it but now, her feelings was very different. Koishi took a while to answer, which was not what she had thought in her mind.

"Yes, _onee-chan._ I do at the moment and will forever be in the future. Even if you hide something from me, I believe you have some reasons to do so."

 _I done it pretty much all my life. Just that I...I... Onee-chan please, just tell me something. Anything. Even a little will do._

Koishi's chest and heart was starting feel very painful. It was as if a sharp weapon was slowly piercing through her 3rd eye and heart. The younger satori tried keeping her composure so her older sister would not notice.

"Very well. If that's the case that will be all. I am just angry at you that you place yourself in danger, so now be more careful and be more aware of your surroundings. Alice can come back to attack anytime," Satori continued her lecture, showing no signs of noticing Koishi true feelings.

 _Onee-chan, please. I don't want to break my trust and love in you. Prove what Alice had said was a lie. Show that she was wrong about you._

"I will definitely tell you when time is right. Don't worry, it is for the sake of our future, even if the incident Alice mention will be coming soon."

 _Just tell me now. I don't want to wait. Even if it involves risking our own safety or ruining your plans. Please onee-chan I beg of you to stop my heart from hurting anymore. Please, please, please..._

But the pleas of Koishi's mind went unanswered. She was left in the dark, with no one to fulfill her request. Not even her own sister. The pain she felt continued to torture her heart and left her mind confused as she made her way to her room after being dismissed.

Her mind left with one question before she went to bed to rest for the night.

 _Why am I always like this all the time? Why can I not just say what I really want even to my own sister?_

* * *

"So, you managed to complete all the homework Akyuu _-sensei_ gave us over the weekend?" Yamame asked.

"Yes, barely. I cannot believe how much time I spend on just for school. The outside humans sure have it tough doing this for years in their short life," Koishi replied.

Yamame and Koishi were walking together along the same path towards school. Nobody, as usual, have yet to notice Koishi.

It was almost a month since the satori first started going to school. Koishi have pretty much gotten used to her lifestyle, coming to school, then meeting Yamame very early in the morning, since the tsuchigumo live near one of the entrance of the Underworld which Koishi was sure to pass by if she were to choose that path. However this would mean missing the hashihime since she lived in the next area on the path to another entrance of the Underworld. They would only then see her at the school gate, with Parsee being earlier than them often.

"Hmm… I wonder what both of them will say to each other today," Yamame wondered, suddenly having a thought.

"I bet today will be the same," Koishi guessed, giggling quietly at the thought.

"One of them should give in so they can talk peacefully…"

Koishi shrugged. It just difficult for it to happen. Parsee and Flandre have been still fighting and always on edge with one another. Neither was giving in to the other for the sake of their own pride. It became a daily entertainment show for Yamame and Koishi the moment this 2 were together, or when they happened to see each other in school first thing in the morning.

And the moment the duo reached the school gate, Parsee was waiting for them.

"Good morning, Ya...Yam...Yamame _-chan_ , K...koishi _-san_ ," Parsee greeted nervously.

The other 2 greeted back. "A slight improvement. You almost did not stumble Koishi's name now. Need to work more on mine," Yamame evaluated.

Parsee looked flustered and just looked down in embarrassment as they went in together. Yamame have been trying to train Parsee to address them by their first names. Only between and the vampire and the hashihime, the way they addressed was still not change.

As what Yamame have said before, Parsee promised she would change her attitude. Sure, she may have some jealous feelings and intention with the satori or anyone else, but at least not so much now as compared to the Parsee the satori knows when she just started school.

"So...you 2 managed to complete your work?" Parsee asked after the short silence.

"Yes," both replied.

"Argh… I only left with that one paper on Gensokyo's history… I envy your place in history, K...Koishi _-san_ ," Parsee said with a hints of envy and admiration.

Koishi chuckled at that fact, _Who would have thought that the Urban Legend incident was written down already. And I thought only the one with the Menreiki incident and me following Reimu when I followed her all the way underground will be the only ones._

"At least a lot better than mine," Yamame said in frustration. "I was mentioned only once and it was just one small text from Shameimaru-san interviewing that Hakurei shrine maiden. _'I fought a weak annoying spider at the entrance in a matter of minutes and get through it quickly. She reminded me of a youkai bug I face a few years back during that fake moon incident'_ was what she wrote. That shrine maiden really think so low of me, that I am some Stage 1 boss in a game. Comparing me with that Nightbug."

"What's wrong? You and that Wiggy Nightbug or whatever her name was will make a great pair!" Koishi exclaimed, winking at Parsee.

"What?" Yamame almost shouted, clearly not expecting such remarks. "No way! She was alright for someone as a playmate and fill my stomach with a bit of her but to think her as my potential girlfriend... I don't think she will be interested."

"Yeah… If Ya...Yamame _-chan_ have her… then that will mean I will not be able to…" Parsee added and became quiet, having 1 finger of each hand pressing against one another while her face turning red.

Yamame looked at her, wondering what she was going to say. Koishi giggled happily in her own mind, satisfied with the results.

"Anyway, K...Koishi _-san_ , you must bring us along for incidents if anything happen," Parsee said, wanting to change the topic.

"It was just plain luck that I happened to be there at the right time. It's not like I intentionally want to be involved with them. Some of them were not pleasant memories either." Koishi defended with each word becoming softer.

"Since most of them occurred when I was only driven by my subconsciousness. It wasn't like I am fully aware of what I am doing at that time," Koishi added quietly to herself.

As the 3 almost reached the school building's entrance, suddenly, there was a commotion behind them. They turned and saw a group of 3 male and 2 female youkai together, weapons and body in offensive modes, with the few students who were already in school running away from them. They seemed to be a group of ordinary youkai that usually roamed about in the wild, belonging to no category of species and have appearances of a normal human.

One of the males came forward, presumably the leader, and shouted at no one in particular, "Teachers and students of this school. My name is Akihiko. We are a group of youkai who are opposed to this modernisation of Gensokyo. If you do not want to get hurt when we are bringing this place, please leave the place immediately. We are going to start soon."

Panic spread throughout the school as students, especially the humans ran for their lives. As most youkai have not arrived yet, and it was still early in the morning, there was not much opposition to this group. Even the teachers, only the human ones were here so far so they were helpless to fight against them.

The trio stood their ground.

"You just have to said it at the wrong time, do you?" Yamame complained, rolling her eyes.

"Well of course, I am a proud hashihime which people fear me for my jealousy manipulation abilities. I will not let myself be known as some Stage 2 boss!" Parsee shouted over the noise.

"Oh so you are Stage 2? While I am just a Stage 1 boss? Think you are better than me?" Yamame shouted over the noise, feeling offended.

"No!" Parsee panicked. "You heard wrongly. It was the noise. Yeah, that's the reason. Koishi-san say something!"

But at the moment, Koishi was staring at the youkai group and was not listening to her friends. She felt her legs and hands remained frozen for some reason. It was coming back to her again. She was not facing Alice, but the nervous that she felt was the same as all the previous incidents she have faced. And so far she would be usually alone with her opponent and she could still move at least. But with people around, she was surprised that her body reacted like this.

"Koishi _-chan_! We have to stop them from destroying our school!" Yamame called out to the satori again, trying to get her attention.

But Koishi's ears remained deaf to Yamame's call.

Yamame groaned in irritation and decided that she would approach the group of youkai herself. Parsee held her hand, worried for her friend. The tsuchigumo looked at her intently, and she pulled her friend's hand, asking the hashihime to join her.

The youkai group were beginning to raze the place down, starting with the upper floors of the school.

Yamame and Parsee were a few meters away from the group when Yamame called out to them, "Hey you, Bakahiko (hiko means prince), stop destroying our precious school!"

"What the… don't you dare say our father like…" one of the male youkai speaks up.

"It's ok, Ichiro. And why would both of you, a tsuchigumo and hashime, thinks that you have the strength to stop us?" Akihiko shouted.

"Wow I am surprised that you recognise us," Yamame commented.

"Even among us common youkai, whoever approached the red shrine maiden will definitely become news fast," Akihiko explained.

"Cool! I like that," Parsee said approvingly.

"Anyway, we don't have to think. We will just do it." Yamame said bravely. "To protect the school from the likes of you!"

"Ooooh… I like your spirit. Alright, everyone, let's crush them. Make sure we give them humiliation they will never forget," the leader laughed with confidence.

"We will see. Let's go, Parsee-san."

"Ehh… EHHHHH… Why- _ParuParu_!" Parsee reluctantly followed while complaining.

" _Paruparu_? What kind of verbal tic is that?" Yamame asked, shocked at her friend's new way of saying.

"Shut up! Let's just go… fight them ok?"

Yamame sighed and turned to face the group.

* * *

"That was... probably one of the easiest battle... we had, right everyone?" Akihiko remarked, and laughed.

"Sure thing...is, father," the youkai that called Ichiro answered while the rest nodded in agreement, trying to catch his breath.

Parsee and Yamame were lying down flat face-down on the ground, with the youkai group surrounding and looking down at them. The 2 students managed to leave a number of injuries at each of the attackers, being the only reason they were defeated because they were outnumbered. The battle lasted for about 30 minutes.

Both of the girls clothing have a lot of it ripped off from the battle, mostly in their mid-section and their sleeves. A bit of their dress around the neck were torn showing their bra straps they were wearing. Yamame's hair was no longer tied up while Parsee's hair was in a state of someone who just woke up.

Some of the buildings and trees were destroyed, and most people have left the place, only leaving the few remaining students and teachers where they took shelter in the school building. No more students have arrived in school, as there was an announcement of an emergency shutdown of the school at the outside of the vicinity.

Yamame looked up, placing one of her hand to hold her bra and struggling to sit up, "No… all of you took quite long to bring… us down… But you win just due to.. your numbers…"

Ichiro stepped on Yamame's exposed back, causing the tsuchigumo to groan loudly in pain and leaving a red foot mark on it.

"Don't do that… to my friend, you one hell of a monster," Parsee managed to say.

Another female youkai came to her, picked her up by the shirt and slapped her to the ground.

"Don't say anything if you know what's good for you! Your friend? Seriously? What about her then?" the female youkai pointed to Koishi. "She is that satori, isn't it? Really live up to her reputation of being a heartless and emotionless monster."

Koishi was still frozen on the spot and did not do anything to interfere at all. She have been watching the battle since the start. Her friends did not offer to answer the female youkai as they were in too much in pain to do so. Koishi did not feel anything for her friends the whole time, nor did she attempted to do anything.

"Huh… talk big but no action." Akihiko said, removing her leg from Yamame's back. "Alright everyone, let's burn this place to the ground!"

The group left the trio and approached the school, ignoring Koishi's presence as she was not a threat to them. They summoned some cards in preparation to destroy the building when suddenly, wind and dust hit them from above and a person hit the ground hard between the school building and the group.

When the dust settles, there lies a young vampire. Her eyes were growing red along with the crystals on her wings which also glowed brightly with magic. She have a red aura around her. She was definitely not in a good mood today.

"Who decides to destroy my school without my permission?" the vampire asked.

"We need permission from you? Who are you?" Ichiro demanded.

"You don't recognised me? I am the Sister of the Devil, Flandre Scarlet." Flandre replied with full pride.

There was a pause before Flandre continued in a sweet and high-pitched voice, "I like breaking things and only me, if I am not satisfied with this school, can bring it down. No other people can do that without my permission. If not, I'll break that person first. Even if all of you are such nice and handsome _onii-chan_ and pretty _onee-chan."_

For the first time, there was a sense of a lost of confidence among the youkai. They recognised who she was and did not say anything.

"What are you all scared for?" Akihiko said, recovering first. "She's just a little young vampire. And there's 6 of us. Let's bring her down quickly."

The rest of the group recovered soon after and they stood in an offensive stance, preparing another battle despite their exhaustion. Flandre stared at them menacingly and said:

 **"You underestimate me. You will soon regret hurting my friends."**

The enraged vampire summoned a weapon from her hand, a crooked clock needle weapon known as Laevateinn. Her eyes were livid and she was carcassing her weapon lovingly, in anticipation of a good battle.

All of the youkai immediately threw her various small bullets in her direction. Flandre quickly flew to her right, to the edge of the school grounds near to where the brand new huge dumpster was. She stayed generally at the area while weaving in and out of the bullets and making use of her small body to get through the dense areas. She laughed loudly, enjoying her time dodging bullets from the youkai which they seemed to struggle hard to hit her once.

When the youkai reached near their 2nd set of spell cards, large blue transparent orbs formed around them and quickly thrown quickly at her. Flandre simply leaned her body close to the edge of the orb, grazing it with her back while slowly moved towards them. By the time their 2nd set of spell were timed out, Flandre remained floating at where she was, her face showing the thrill of having such an intense battle in a long time.

"Alright, my turn," the excited vampire declares.

Flandre started by throwing a non spell-card of red bullets, in 2 successive sets, one faster than the other. All 5 youkai separated and quickly flew to dodge them. Unfortunately, exhaustion took a toll on them and 2 were hit after a few waves and dropped to the ground easily due to Flandre's much stronger and deadly bullets.

The remaining 3 retaliates by attacking her, throwing her several waves of bullets narrowingly aimed at her. Flandre waited for it to come close before quickly flew high above them. Then, she summoned a card from her hand. "Spell Card: Cranberry Trap!"

Various small, pink and blue circled bullets around the school, surrounding the group in the middle, which traveled towards the 3 remaining youkai. Not knowing what to do, they easily found themselves in the densest areas making 2 of them hit hard on their face or stomach before landing to the ground, leaving only the leader by the time the spell card had ended. The vampire laughed sadistically, knowing she did not need to do anything else and enjoyed the sight of the very bad injuries she have caused.

All the bullets disappeared along with the Laevateinn and Flandre dropped to the level of the last standing youkai.

"So… what did you say about me being a young little vampire, _onii-chan_?" Flandre asked, showing an innocent and adorable expression.

Akihiko did not answer, fear clearly shown on his face. He already knew he was already defeated.

"Bye bye, _onii-chan._ It was fun playing with you. I am just sad that I didn't get to use my other spell cards," Flandre said in the same tone.

Flandre disappeared from his view fast without a trace and the youkai panics, looking around for the vampire. When his back was away from where she originally was, that was when something black and huge struck him, making him fell to the ground hard. Akihiko realised that Flandre had just used the dumpster to throw at him which was now on top of him. Flandre appeared right in front of him, crouching and was near his face when he was under the pile of rubbish.

"Kamishirasawa _-sensei_ always tell me not to break the dumpster, so I hope you don't do it, or I will be punish. Since I cannot kill you, treat this as how bad your body will smell like when you actually die. Promise me you will remember that, _onii-chan_?"

The youkai looked at her, stunned. He was not seeing a young, innocent 10-year-old girl. What he was seeing was a monster who have became his ultimate nightmare. Then, he fainted from the shocked and fear.

"Aww… that was quite disappointing. Time to pick up the mess they made," Flandre said as she walked towards where her friends were lying down.

* * *

Yamame and Parsee have been brought to the Gensokyo's most famous hospital, 'Eirin's Hospital' located at Eientei which was somewhere in the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, another large forested area in Gensokyo on the west of the Human Village.

Both of them were in the same hospital room with their beds side by side, and was being treated by Reisen, one of the top doctors working in the hospital.

Reisen Udongein Inaba (鈴仙・優曇華院・イナバ) was her full name with one of her more famous title as the Lunatic Moon Rabbit. She came from the moon and a former Lunarian. She have red eyes, long light-purple hair and long rumpled rabbit ears with an taller than average voluptuous body. Her ears stand up straight and are decorated with two accoutrement-like buttons. Her outfit consists of a long-sleeved black business suit with a white doctor coat covering to her thigh. She also wore a short purple mini skirt. There was a clip on her necktie in the shape of a carrot.

Koishi was standing nearby, while watching Reisen treating them, with a few other rabbit nurse helping her such as bringing in items among others. The other rabbits were all Earth Rabbits, which obviously came from Earth under the leadership of Tewi Inaba, a close friend of Reisen. Meanwhile, Flandre was nowhere to be seen. The satori reminded herself to look for her once this was over.

Reisen applied the last bandage around Yamame's left arm and started packing up her items in a medical box.

"So how are they, Inaba _-sensei_?" Koishi asked nervously, being careful not to look at the doctor's lunatic red eyes.

Koishi knows that looking at those eyes would mean her going crazy and possibly hurting her friends there.

Reisen turned to look at her 2 new patients, looking a bit tired after treating people from morning until afternoon. "Please, _-san_ is fine. I feel like I am some middle-age doctor if you address me that way."

"And to answer your question," Reisen continued without even allowing Koishi to apologise. "Your friends are fine. They will fully heal in a few hours, since they are youkai so their body can heal much faster than an ordinary human. Just let them rest for now."

"Thank you Inaba _-sen_...Inaba _-san_ ," Koishi said, finally feeling relaxed.

"No problem," Reisen said casually, like she have heard it countless times before. "Just make sure to call me again once they wake up so I can be sure there are really normal."

Koishi nodded. Reisen flicked her long purple hair on her back, soreness spreading to her body, and asked the rabbit nurses to leave as she picked up her medical box. She pulled the door open when she remembered something and turned to Koishi.

"Oh, I just remembered... Komeiji _-san_ right?"

Koishi turned her body to Reisen, "Yes?"

"It will be best to find out where that vampire friend of yours is now. I got the feeling that you need to talk to her. She seemed very distraught and worried when I saw her just breaking through my office wall with just her own body, armored concrete wall if I must add, with those 2 of your friends on each of her arms. And tell her she don't have to pay anything too," Reisen said.

Koishi took a while to register what the rabbit doctor have said before nodding quietly again. Reisen turned her back to the exit and briefly left the room with Koishi alone to her own worries.

Koishi slowly walked to the middle of the 2 beds and looked at each of her 2 friends closely. Various bandages were on their arms, stomach and legs. They were being hit by the attacks many times before they could be stopped. They were willing to place their lives to protect the school, the place where they meet people and socialise as classmates or as friends. The place where all 4 of them could be together as their own selves with no interference from anyone.

As she looks on, many types of feelings also went up inside her as she thought about her own state at that moment.

During the battle, Koishi did not do anything to help them at all. She simply stood there, her body and conscious mind not allowing her to move, while watching her 2 friends being gravely hurt. Even when Flandre had arrived, there was no change. She did not know what have gotten to her at that time. Now here she was, pretending to worry and care for them. How would they feel and think about her now after seeing that she simply stood there?

And in the worst case that Koishi imagined, seeing that she was just here just pretending to care for them. They could possibly revoked their friendship the moment they woke up.

She felt angry and frustrated with her own actions earlier that day. She curled her hands into fists. _Why did I not do anything to help them? What's wrong with me?_

Koishi always thought friendship was easy. But she knows better now. They were easy to forge but it was never easy to maintain them. It requires a lot of effort and time. But the actions she took was different from what she initially have thought. Was this why she found it hard to make friends all this time?

At the moment, Koishi needed to find Flandre and apologised to her. The satori was sure the vampire was somewhere near this place, not wanting to look at her friends who were terribly injured. Koishi was surprised that she even picked up Parsee. So Flandre do care for her deep inside even though they fight all the time. All this the more made the satori felt more guilty.

Koishi walked to the door, and before she left she said quietly even though she knows she was just talking to herself, "See you later, and I am sorry I did not do anything to help you girls. I'll make sure I won't make the same mistake again."

* * *

 _Where else can she be?_ Koishi thought to herself.

She have been spending the last 2 hours searching for Flandre around the hospital. She checked every floor and the visitors resting area, lobby and pharmacy. She also searched the hospital compound in front of the main building though she did not stray too far as she may end up deep in the Bamboo Forest and became lost herself.

It was already evening and the sun was slowly setting. Flandre cannot be at home since Koishi believed the vampire would not have left them just like that. She was probably at some area crying or lost in thought. And Koishi was determined to find her, to apologise or at least say some comforting words to her, as her best friend. She must not back out and leave like nothing had happened after what she had done earlier.

 _I have searched the whole building and the front compound. She definitely won't be there at that room to see Parsee-san and Yamame-chan. Then where else have I not look?_

Then it came to her that she forget to check the back of the building. She did not do so earlier as there was no path leading there, and there was only bamboo trees growing behind a large pond which was in between the forest and the hospital. But it was a possibility. Koishi ran to the side and follow as close to the structure before reaching to the back.

As soon as Koishi turned into the corner, she immediately saw her best friend.

Flandre was sitting, at the edge of the large pond with her back facing the bamboo forest, folding her arms around her raised knees and her head on her hand.

 _She must still be crying for hours now. Crying alone with no one to comfort her all this time,_ Koishi thought as she stopped after a few meters away from the vampire, breathing heavily with exhaustion from the long search.

The satori looked down at her best friend, lost in what to say. Where should she start? She never dealt moments like this, let alone with friends.

Koishi slowly walked towards Flandre and sat right next to her, with similar sitting position.

The satori heard the vampire sniffed and sobbed quietly but the 2 did not exchange any words yet. The satori just looked at the concrete wall across the large pond in front of them, waiting for her best friend to calm down. A good 10 minutes have passed when the vampire finally remained quiet and did not move.

"Flan- _chan_ , I…" Koishi whispered.

"Don't call me that," Flandre said, her voice being somewhat angry.

"What... did you say?" the satori asked, not sure of what she have heard.

 **"I said do not called me that, satori!"** Flandre finally shouted, finally looking at Koishi.

The satori was speechless with what she heard her best friend have called her. She looked at the vampire closely. Flandre's eyes were puffy and very red due to her hours of crying and her whole face was red. Her blond hair and cap were crumpled at the front while the crystal of her wings was shining a bit of red from the reflection of the sunset. And now she was pissed and angry at someone.

"Why… did you called me that...I just want to say I'm sorry that I…"

 **"Shut up! Shut your damn mouth! I don't want to hear anymore of your lies!"** Flandre shouted again, covering her ears and shaking her head.

Flandre stood up fast and gave a distance between Koishi and herself, which the latter followed suit.

 **"** I just don't understand, why did you not do anything to help them? **Why you of all people, was just standing there doing absolutely nothing?"** Flandre demanded, a bit of tears reappeared again in her eyes.

Koishi was also slowly starting to tear up, "I...I always felt nervous and scared before a battle… and usually it's just me alone, but I could still move to fight. But this time, there were others involved and my body just stood there, with my mind not feeling anything to do something for some reason."

But the vampire was not convinced by her best friend's explanations. She dashed to the satori and grabbed by her neck and pinned her to the ground, choking her.

 **"What kind of stupid reason was that? If you really considered them your friends, your mind don't even have to think at all!"**

Koishi struggled, and held Flandre's hand with her own hands tightly trying to push it away. Left with no choice, she summoned a few pink bullets and hit Flandre to her left, which the vampire rolled over, letting go of Koishi.

Koishi coughed a few times as she slowly pulled herself up.

"Yes, maybe you are right. But what could I do? Both my mind and body were completely paralysed," Koishi said as she felt indignant with the vampire's actions.

The vampire stood up and balanced herself, rubbing her waist from the bullets that had hit her. There was a tear of her shirt in that area, revealing her white pale skin. She did not reply back but instead looked at Koishi with resentful and teared eyes.

Koishi continued, "I will say as many times as I need to, I am sorry. I did not know why I am like that ok? I don't know what to do with someone else being there and this was my first time…"

"I don't want to listen to your lame excuses and apologies! How dare you think about such things! Go back to hell where you truly belongs!" Flandre shouted, not wanting to hear the end of it.

The vampire dashed to the satori again but this time, the satori raised her hands to catch the vampire's grip. Both of them struggled with their legs and hands as they pushed among each other, closing to the edge of the pond. Flandre used her knees to hit Koishi's stomach, throwing Koishi's focus off and the vampire quickly grabbed the satori by the waist and carried her. Then, she used all her strength and threw her opponent at the direction of the forest.

Koishi knocked into multiples of the long stem of the bamboo trees, which fell before she finally hit the ground hard with her back to the hard dirt. Her shirt torn at her back, revealing some bit of bruises but no blood due to her youkai body. There was silence for a while when Koishi heard some winds howling and the sound of footsteps which Flandre immediately appeared a few meters away from her, looking down with the same wrathful eyes. Her red eyes and the crystal on her wings was now glowing very bright, with rage fueling it.

Koishi stared at those eyes, which her own teary eyes and not knowing what to say. Her feelings were becoming too complicated for her to even comprehend anything. The vampire approached closer to her and bent down, their face were only a few centimeters apart and they both looked in the eye. The satori looked away, crying and sniffing. Flandre placed her hand on Koishi's chins and forcefully pulled her face towards her, ensuring they have eye contact.

" **Listen, satori from hell.** It was my first time too," Flandre whispered angrily. "I never have a proper friend until I met someone on that back of the school enjoying her lunch from her pretty lunchbox, and still spoke to me despite seeing me breaking things and ruining the moment that she was enjoying. I trusted that she would save me or our friends if anyone of us would be in trouble. She was someone who I admired for her good and quiet behavior and the first person that I fell in love with just recently. I thought she was a different person from everyone, even Yamame- _chan_ and Mizuhashi- _san_ , but no, it looks like my choice of the one I love was wrong."

Flandre let go of Koishi's chin and stood up, and Koishi's eyes remained fixed on Flandre and listening attentively. Her eyes slowly widened in expectation as if she knew what Flandre was going to say next.

"You are no different from everyone. Just people who pretends to care for everyone else and want others to protect for you and entertain you for your own selfishness. And you, who have at least able to talk to your family freely even if you were only able to stay underground, should know that much better than me."

The vampire eyes settled a bit, and her eyes and the crystals on her wings slowly dimmed.

"Goodbye, the Closed Eyes of Love. You really have no love and care for anyone. I wish to never see you again. You are not worth my time spent on killing you over."

With that, Flandre turned her back on Koishi and head to the hospital, probably visiting the 2 of her friends. She did not look back once.

Koishi was shocked and frozen with what her former best friend had said. She kept playing it in her head. She did not bother to read Flandre's mind to know what she really thought off.

Koishi slowly stood up, realising that she was now the only person in the area. Silence and the sound of nature eventually reached her ears. She thought she wanted to hold it back but she gave in and cried. She covered her face with her hands as her tears passed through the spaces of her hands, landing on her lap like a mini-rain. She felt guilt and regret as she cried as loud as loudly as she could.

The satori have lost her best friend, who had just confessed her love to her, and she was now again alone in her life with no one else to rely on.

 _What did I do to deserve this? Now thinking back and hearing her confession, I am very sure at the Forest of Magic she was saying around the lines of... "Ever since I know you, I like how you look and admire you. I just realised I love you, Koishi Komeiji."_

As soon as she realised this, the satori placed her left hand to her heart. The torment she felt on her heart was choking her that made her breathless. Her dark green eyes glowed with power as she fought this feeling. She realised this human feeling that she never felt before, contradicting her title, the Closed Eyes of Love. Her heart and mind was fighting hard to reject it as it was not suppose to exist in her anymore.

Koishi whispered to herself as much as she could between her cries of agony:

 **"You were wrong, Flan-chan. I think...I am starting to love you too."**

* * *

As the satori left to her crying moments, not noticed by her, a certain puppeteer had seen the whole thing, except when the satori cried alone afterwards. She have left before that as she was happy with what already saw so far. The results was better than what she was expecting. She had a very satisfying smile on her face.

 _This is better than I thought. Who would have thought that just provoking those wild youkai a bit would really made these 2 separated so easily like this. Satori and Remilia, you should know who have the upper hand now. Let's see how you treat your sisters when both of them are in this state of despair._


	7. The Hashihime's Way of Recovery

**Chapter 7: The Hashihime's Way of Recovery**

* * *

"Have a seat first, Kurodani- _san_. O _jou-sama_ will be here shortly," Sakuya said, bowing respectfully.

"Thank you, Izayoi _-san_ ," Yamame said nervously.

Yamame sat at one of the chairs near a round tea table. Sakuya left the area after preparing 2 cups of tea, with the other one for her host.

Yamame was at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's 2nd floor balcony, overlooking the large garden the sprawled in front of the mansion within its high brick walls. She was here to see her vampire friend but Sakuya told her to talk to the older sister first.

The tsuchigumo sat at her chair comfortably, trying to settle down, but her uneasiness in her mind was hard to remove. She sighed, wondering if these problems would ever going to end.

It's been 3 days since Flandre and Koishi have fought. Both Yamame and Parsee have healed and much to their surprise, their 2 friends did not came back to school for 3 days. This made Yamame very worried about their situation and their relationship. She heard the whole thing from Reisen about what had happened which Flandre have told her directly. She have been thinking about them everyday ever since, wondering if there was any way if she could help and whether if all 4 of them could ever get back together. She was just in no mood to even go to school, but she still attend since she got no reason to do so otherwise.

Unlike the tsuchigumo, her hashihime friend was not so forgiving of the situation that happened 3 days ago. She could not forgive the satori's actions even though Yamame told her that there must be some reason for their friend to act that way but Parsee was not taking it. Yamame dropped the subject and acted like nothing had happened for a while. But soon after, she thought of going to go to the mansion, hoping to at least able to do something for her 2 missing friends. Parsee reluctantly followed her, as Flandre had saved her too, thus she have a debt to be paid.

 _This is so unlike me,_ Yamame thought quietly. _My usual confidence is not with me today._

The tsuchigumo sighed and looked outside while waiting for Remilia. She could see why Remilia chose this place when she meet her guest. The view of the garden was just spectacular and provided a quiet and calming effect on her guests. 10 minutes later, someone behind her said, "It's quite a nice view, isn't it?"

Yamame turned to see the 500-year-old vampire smiling politely at her.

"Errr… yeah. It help me calm down a little…," Yamame replied, feeling a bit scared from the presence of the Scarlet Devil.

"Relax, Kurodani _-san_. I know why you came here, but I thought I want to talk to her friends first," Remilia said empathically, moving on to sit on her chair opposite of Yamame.

Yamame did not answer. Remilia sipped her tea before she started. "I did not expect this to happen. I thought that their relationship were very close and they could reconcile the next day but at this rate… they may never able to do it."

Yamame looked at the vampire in surprised. She never expected that the elder Scarlet to have the same thoughts as her. After all, she did heard certain things about her from news, rumours and also from the younger Scarlet. Her opinion of the vampire in front of her changed a bit.

"That… that is why I'm here," Yamame stammered, though feeling more comfortable by the moment. "I want to talk to her. Maybe friends like me and Parsee- _chan_ can try to convince both of them to talk."

Remilia looked a bit sad at Yamame. "I do not think you can do that with Flandre. She have been shutting herself in her room at the basement ever since that day, not even letting Sakuya to bring her food in. She immediately chase anyone out who enters her room, not even I, myself was able to go in. If there is one thing I know about her, is that once she make up her mind, it is impossible to change it. And I see the only way to change is if something external that is very big and impactful to her will drive her out of her room."

No words came back for Yamame to say that what Remilia have said was wrong. That was because Remilia was right. Flandre only listened to her own thoughts and she was very decisive in doing things, not letting anyone to stop on what she had decided on. It seems like coming here was becoming a waste after all.

"But... but wouldn't she die from starvation?" Yamame asked worryingly.

"Maybe, but we vampires can last without drinking blood for quite some time," replied the vampire explained. "In the worst-case scenario, She can even intentionally go into hibernation so no one can wake her up unless she decides to do so herself."

Parsee was horrified at that thought of that possibility. That was no way Flandre would want to do that. She would not shut herself there forever, since she experienced it before not too long ago.

It was Remilia's turn to sigh, "I suggest both of you to go to talk to Koishi instead. She has a higher probability to recover and come here given her slightly more stable control of her emotions. You and Mizuhashi- _san_ live underground after all, so it's highly likely that both of you can get through her much easier. Fate have decided that if things were to get to normal, Koishi should make the first move this time round. Not Flandre anymore."

Yamame nodded in understanding. Her mind have no other suggestions that could possibly resolved this so she would just go with whatever anyone suggested. Yamame stood up, preparing to leave.

"Then, I shall take my leave and talk to Parsee _-chan_ about this. Thanks, Scarlet _-san_."

"No problem," Remilia dismissed the thanks with a wave of her hand. "After all, it also involve my sister and also Satori's sister. It's natural that I am worried about both of them."

Yamame bowed deeply to give her thanks before leaving the mansion, escorted by Sakuya. Yamame gave her thanks to Sakuya and waved goodbye before entering the forested area that lies in front of the mansion.

The tsuchigumo met her hashihime friend who was standing and leaning against a tall tree. Parsee saw her friend and quickly walked up to her.

"So how was it?"

Yamame shooked her head.

"I see. So did her sister said anything?"

"Yeah. She suggested that we talk to Koishi _-chan_ instead. We have a better chance of convincing her than Flandre _-chan_. She is probably right."

Parsee rolled her eyes, "Oh really? Then I wonder why she isn't here to see her best friend. I thought she didn't care about her at all. Like how she did to us."

Yamame did not answer that comment. She did not know what she could say to convince Parsee to think otherwise.

"I really cannot believe she completely abandoned us during that time, you know. She really showed no emotions on her face. I am sure you remember that clearly too. Its really disturbing how a youkai with human emotions can feel nothing to see her friends hurt so badly for a long time. If there's one thing I can agree with our attackers, is that she really is an emotionless and heartless person."

"Parsee _-chan_ , please stop," Yamame said quietly, which was not being heard by her friend.

Parsee continued, "I don't know why you are so concerned about trying to get them together. I always fight with that vampire and even to the satori, I am just an annoyance to her anyway. Logically, you should not put so much effort to go this far to help them, Yamame _-chan_."

Yamame felt her insides being twisted as the truth hit her hard. There was no denying all those.

"I think we should just not bother with them Yamame _-chan_ , let's just go home. Forget about them. Just both of us having each other is enough."

A loud clap was heard and echoed loudly in the forest, causing a few fairies nearby to look up and flew around looking for the source of the amplified sound.

Parsee's head was facing to the side of her body and she felt her cheeks burning. She raised her hand to touch her cheeks as she turned her head to her friend.

"Ya...Yamame _-chan,_ why did you slap me…"

Yamame looked up at her pleadingly, dropping her right hand which was feeling the pain. The hashihime was surprised that her friend's eyes was red and she was starting to cry, with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Parsee- _chan..._ please no more," Yamame begs. "These past few days was already very bad for me. I already… lost my confidence and optimism... and I don't w...want to lose you too."

"Lose me?" Parsee said, confused.

"I thought that all 4 of us could be together forever. I thought... with you coming in to our group, I could finally hang out with the other 2 easily and not worried about ever being separated. But Parsee- _chan_ , what you said earlier about just being enough with both of us...it really hurts. It hurts a lot to say s...something that means a lot to me."

Yamame wailed and shoved her head into Parsee's chest, hugging her friend hard. The hashihime became speechless, with what her friend had said hitting her hard. She reluctantly hug her friend and placed her head close to her companion.

Parsee realised why Yamame went through all of this. She never figured out the reason why Yamame wanted so much for the hashihime to be friends with the other 2. She just realised that Yamame was the one that brought all of them together. She was the anchor of their friendship. But with even her closest friend not agreeing with her, it probably broke whatever confidence and optimism that was left inside her. Parsee felt disappointed in her own self. So much for having deep feelings for someone she liked and admired to end up like this by her own insensitive actions.

"I...I didn't know that meant a lot to you, Yamame- _chan._ I'm sorry I said that. I really am. I won't say such things about it anymore, ok?" Parsee whispered to her ears.

Yamame nodded her head vigorously and continued crying on Parsee's chest. The hashihime thought for a while and decided on what she should do next. It was not going to be easy because it was something that she would never expected to do before to anyone. After all, cheering up and providing comfort was not her forte. Unfortunately, this current situation desperately requires it.

* * *

 _No change in her again today,_ Satori thought.

Satori was looking through her paperwork. At the moment, she was on her working hours. She was working normally in her office but the thought of Koishi kept coming back to her consistently.

Unlike Flandre, instead of just confining herself to her room, Koishi would go out to have her 2 meals, then help her sister in her work in the afternoon for 4 hours or so and return to her room right before dinner for the rest of the day. She refused to eat her dinner by then and locked her door so that no one could disturb her. Furthermore, Koishi did not say a single word ever since that fight and show a very blank and distant look to whoever talks to her. Even to her older sister.

Satori peeked through her stack of papers and saw Koishi stamping the papers at the table that was used to provide snacks for her guests. Her body expression did not show anything different, and her movements was robotic, just repeating the same thing after reading each piece of document.

Satori sighed. _Just when things got better between both of them, even between me and Remi-chan too, this kind of thing must occur._

Satori tried to get something out of her sister but all she received was a muted response and a blank stare. She did not inquire it further seeing the response she got a few times and went on her day normally, even though she was struggling to do so.

Koishi went to Satori's desk and placed her stack neatly on one corner, indicating that she have done with all of them. She stood there, waiting for Satori to say something.

"You are dismissed, Koishi. Thanks for helping me as always."

Koishi nodded and walked to the door, and left the room.

Satori stared at the door, as if wishing she saw an excited sister of hers entering to demand for her attention or being curious about her work like how she always did. Sometimes she became irritated by it but at times, she was grateful to have something to calm herself down from her stress as the mistress of the place. Now, the older satori felt that she took those moments for granted.

Satori placed the papers she was holding on top of the table and crossed her arms.

"I think I should see Remi- _chan_ and talk to her," Satori talked to herself. "We have to change our plans to consider the situation we are now. If this goes on, we might be too late to face Alice when the time comes."

Satori nodded in agreement with her own suggestion and stood up to leave. As soon as she was about to open her door, it slammed open and there stood a very panicking Rin Kaenbyou.

"Satori _-sama,_ " Rin said before Satori could ask. "There… there are youkai who's attacking our mansion!"

"What? Then, why you did not stop them... oh, I see," Rin nodded at Satori, confirming her thoughts.

 _Yuugi and Parsee. Why are they attacking our mansion?_ Satori thought.

"Parsee?" Satori questioned, wondering why a friend of Koishi was with the oni. "Let's go and see what's up with them attacking our home. Follow me, Rin."

Rin nodded without saying anything and followed Satori behind as they left the office.

 _You better have a good reason for this, Mizuhashi. I am not in my good mood now because of Koishi and I hope you and your companion don't make it worse than it already is or there's hell to pay,_ Satori thought as she walked along the mansion corridors.

* * *

"Wow you were right, Mizuhashi _-san._ It's really challenging to break in. Why didn't we think of this earlier during our free time? It's quite fun!" Yuugi commented heartily.

"Of course I'm right. I often visit them so I know quite a lot of how their defenses work," Parsee said, feeling the thrill as she shoot several small blue bullets at the barrier protecting the mansion.

Parsee and Yuugi were randomly shooting at the general direction of the mansion, trying to provoke the residents of the place to attack them. They shoot a couple more waves before they saw 2 figures coming out from the doors of the mansion that were slowly flying towards them.

The duo recognised the 2 being Rin and Satori. To much of the hashihime surprise, this was the first time she saw the mistress looking so angry at her. She was definitely not being welcomed at the moment and have come to this place at the wrong time.

 _No Koishi? Seems I need to do a bit more to make her come out,_ Parsee thought.

All 4 of them floated on the same level as they floated somewhere outside the protective barrier of the mansion.

"So it seems you girls finally came out. But both of you are not the ones I want to see," Parsee said.

Satori gave her an angry and irritated look.

"You can read my mind. So you know my purpose being here," Parsee said, her arms spread open.

"I know," Satori said, still not changing her expression. "But by attacking our mansion, we still have to treat you both as hostiles even if you are a good frequent visitor of mine. I will not forgive anyone who dares attack my home, even if you have good intentions. And I am not in a good mood either."

"So that's how it is. Look like I got no choice," Parsee sighed regretfully.

Parsee summoned a card to her hand, which Rin and Satori followed suit. Yuugi did not bother doing it as she decided to use her non-spell attacks for a start. After all as an oni, she loved challenges.

The atmosphere between them became tensed as all of them were fully armed and prepared to attack. They stared at each other for a while, daring the other pair to make the first move.

Finally, Satori and Parsee made the first move:

" _Spell Card: Recollection "Envy "Green-Eyed-""_

" _Spell Card: Envy "Green-Eyed Invisible Mons-"_

But a much louder shout was heard from a distance, stopping them from completing their spells.

" _Spell Card: Symbol "Ancestors Standing Beside Your Bed"!"_

Many rows of short discrete lasers appeared beside them which seemed to aim directly at everyone. It moved very fast that they have barely any time to react and dodge all of them. When they disappeared, single rows of multiple waves of small red bullets came out around the spell caster, followed by red orbs which aimed at Parsee and Yuugi.

Satori and Rin back away to the protective barrier of the mansion while Yuugi and Parsee tried gaining height while throwing a few bullets at the new attacker. The attacker dashed close to them quickly, and another blue rows of lasers appeared behind the duo which surprised them. Yuugi used her bare hands to block them while Parsee, not able to move in time, was directly shot in her stomach by 2 of them.

Parsee yelped in pain as she was pushed back by the force of the attack.

Parsee gave herself to recover and focused back on her attacker. The blue bullets reached to the sides of the attacker and reflected back to her. This time, Parsee was ready and easily squeezed through the gap and graze them.

This repeated for a minute or so before the spell card timed out. Yuugi was not hit by any while Parsee was hit on her stomach a few times. The blue lasers were proving to be too fast for her to react. Parsee's new opponent came to her level.

"What are you doing here Parsee- _san_ , trying to attack our home?" Koishi demanded, her voice remained neutral.

Parsee gave a smug at her, replied, "Trying to get you out that is. I got no other choice."

"I never know you care about me," Koishi said, still remained neutral.

"It never come across my mind either. But I know better now."

Parsee stared hard at Koishi's eyes, trying to get a read of Koishi's feelings and thoughts. But the master of hidden emotions did not give any at all.

"If you are worried about what happened 3 days ago, I have looked pass over it," Parsee said.

Koishi remained quiet. Parsee continued, "Not feeling grateful? I came here to get you back and this is all I get? You truly such a heartless youkai."

"I am not a heartless youkai! Just get out of here, you have no business with what happened between me and Flan- _chan_." Koishi said, this time with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"Then why are you still here doing nothing? If you want to make amendments, why are you not in the Scarlet Devil Mansion? You should be there by now, trying to talk through her about this."

Koishi offered no replies. Instead she gave a more of a hostile look at the hashihime.

Yuugi came down to Parsee. "Eh, Mizuhashi _-san_ , can we move on quickly? I cannot wait here for so long for both of you to finish talking.

"Yeah, we are done. It seems talking to her did not work. So we are going to take action. Let's move to step 2," Parsee said, determination in her voice.

Parsee and Yuugi backed out causing Koishi to break her composure as her curiosity sets in to what Parsee was trying to do to her.

The hashihime and the oni turned to the mansion where the other 2 residents were waiting, in case they attacked again.

"Hoshiguma _-san_ , you handle that kasha. I deal with her myself," Parsee ordered.

"You sure? That satori isn't easy to fight with, from what I heard. She managed to tear half of that red shrine maiden's dress from what I have heard," Yuugi said worryingly.

"Trust me, I know what I am doing. Just distract them while I settle with her."

Yuugi nodded and flew towards the 2 residents. Parsee started to fly and gained some height, leveling with the roof of the mansion which Koishi followed suit.

Parsee glanced sideways to Satori, _I know what to do with her. Go to Remilia and tell her Koishi will be there soon._

Satori nodded but not in her direction as she whispered something to Rin before leaving the fight.

Without saying anything else, Parsee took a card from her hand. She declared loudly and clearly, " _Spell Card: Grandpa Hanasaka "Shiro Ashes"!"_

Koishi declared nonchalantly and sounded calm, " _Spell Card: Instinct "Release of the Id"!"_

 _Since I started this, I will end this quickly._ Parsee thought, placing a brave front at Koishi.

* * *

 _Tsk, Yuugi was not kidding about that fight with that Hakurei,_ Parsee thought, gritting her teeth.

Her dress was now only covering to her thighs, with both of of her sleeves and neck was being exposed, having one bra strap being cut, which was blue in colour. Around her waist, half of it was also ripped off. She was placing one hand on the side of the exposed neck, trying to keep her dress from not falling off.

 _I guess this is how she is like when she is serious in her battles. Seriously, my clothes… ugh.. I hate being so exposed like this,_ Parsee thought in irritation as she pulled up her torn bra strap.

When Parsee visited the mansion before, Koishi rarely used her danmaku on Parsee and the hashihime herself never saw any of her battles. Even when Koishi used danmaku, it was just to make Parsee get away from her which the latter would just return to irritate the former further moments after that.

The hashihime would not admit out loud but she was impressed and envy Koishi's powers and talents especially when she was in this serious mode she was currently witnessing. She summoned and spoke her spell cards even faster than Parsee, not even letting any chances for her to strike back or and barely used her non-spell attacks. She made use of Parsee's weakness to counter-attack by reading the deeper side of her thoughts. Her dodging skills were very sharp and right to the point and she made it look dodging difficult danmaku to be so simple. No wonder she was terrified by many youkai, even among a few of the stronger ones. She was just was too powerful for her own good, and if not for her quiet and non-violent nature, she was sure the satori could achieve much more than what she already did in Gensokyo.

Parsee ran away from the mansion which Koishi chased after. Parsee threw a few more bullets at Koishi which she easily swerved around them. Seeing that the satori was catching up to her, the hashihime stopped and turned back to her opponent.

 _C'mon let this work. Koishi-san, if you are not heartless as you claim to be, you should react to this next thing._

"Seems Yuugi was right. It is very difficult to defeat you, let alone hitting you," Parsee shouted over the noise with bravery in her voice.

Koishi did not reply and did not change her neutral and blank expression.

"And I thought for a moment, like how Yamame- _chan_ believes, that you have some care for us as you claimed to be. I was wrong. Now, you are just making yourself look worse than it already is."

Parsee summoned a card into her free hand. This would be the last one she have. She have used up all of her possible attacks and spell cards. This was her last resort. She rarely used it as it was very different from the rest in this situation she was facing. She was hoping that this last one could work on Koishi. Koishi also took out one of hers, her hands fidgeting and curling around it.

 _Is it starting to work?_ Parsee thought hopefully. _I just have to say it and see through this. I hope I won't die from expanding a lot of my magic._

Parsee took a deep breath and let out her words clearly and letting her thoughts clearly, " _Spell Card: Grandpa Hanasaka "Jealousy of the Kind And Lovely"_."

A few flowers sprouted towards the satori when they suddenly wilted and completely disappeared. The satori grinned with satisfaction, seeing that her opponent have completely drained of magical power. The hashihime looked at her own card in horror, knowing that she could not do anything further. That card was her last thing she would probably able to do to convince her friend.

It was the satori's turn. " _Spell Card: Philosophy of a hated per-_ **ENOUGH OF THAT!"**

Koishi suddenly became enraged. Yet, Parsee quickly turn her horrified face to a smile. What she have planned have come to fruition.

" **I said ENOUGH! Close off that subconsciousness thought of yours. You are giving me things I don't want to see."** Koishi shouted irritably.

Koishi dashed towards Parsee and with both hands pushing Parsee by the shoulders and went diagonally to the ground to hit the hard earth fast.

Ashes, smoke and dirt flew everywhere which attracted the attention of Yuugi and Rin, which they stopped their battle to look over what was happening.

When the dust cleared, a small crater was seen and in the middle of it was Koishi pressing hard on Parsee's shoulders, who was lying down and struggling to hold the pain. Koishi gritted her teeth very loudly.

"Why must you keep saying those things? I just want to forget them…" Koishi said pleadingly.

"That's because… it is the only way to convince you. The guilt you felt from not saving us... the things you saw at that time… and also words you said in the hospital," Parsee struggled to speak as her suffering continued.

Koishi's face showed a moment of realisation.

"Yes, both of us heard... what you said back then. That actually convinced me that you are not what everyone is saying."

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Koishi- _san_ , look at me."

Koishi relaxed her hands a bit, though still grabbing the shoulders. "What?"

"I said, look at me, you blind satori. Look at my face," Parsee ordered.

Koishi turned her eyes to Parsee's face when she saw a slight change on the face from what she normally saw. It was barely visible but she could still tell the difference.

"Yes, what you interpreted is correct. That barely visible red hand mark was made by Yamame- _chan_ 40 minutes ago when we tried to talk to Flandre at her mansion. Yamame was very angry at me for saying things that meant a lot to her."

Parsee paused to allow Koishi to register what she was saying, and the latter did not say anything. "Did you know how much all our friendship means to her? She was the one that brought us all together. Without her, I would not have been here trying to set things right with you!"

That made Koishi to immediately let go of Parsee and she moved away from her friend and sat down, looking very miserable at herself. She raised her legs, and folded her arms around it, placing her face on it.

Parsee slowly sat up, having a hard time to do so, "You want to know why I keep coming to your place? That is because I want to take my jealousy on you. You are very fortunate to have family and friends around you to rely on but for me, there is only me and I have to ask favours from people to get things done."

Parsee glanced at Yuugi who was floating above next to Rin before coming back to Koishi. The oni nodded in acknowledgement which made the hashihime smiled.

Parsee went closer to her friend's face, turning serious. "I really envy you in many ways. Right now, you are still willing to talk to me, to go along with me no matter how many times I came to disturb you. That further made me embroiled in my jealousy of you. And even in school, it was the reason that I always take out my jealousy on Flandre because of your relationship with that vampire. Both of you open up to each other so easily and knows what the other is feeling very well and that irritate me to hell every time I see you. But for me, I don't know when I am going to have the courage to confess to Yamame- _chan_. I don't want to find out that one day, Yamame will just see me as a friend. That will definitely make me feel devastated."

Parsee use her free hand to raise her friend's head on the chin. She saw that Koishi was a bit teary-eyed, and her eyes also have that blank look again. The hashihime sighed.

 _This is really troublesome. But I already promised Yamame. I hate to admit but... I guess Koishi is my friend in the end,_ Parsee thought.

"Koishi- _san_ , I want you to realise that you do have a heart. Heck care your title, the Closed Eyes of Love or the Imaginary Personality… whatever it is. That last spell card I used, it involved my thoughts for the jealousy of a kind and lovely person, I purposely chose that to show to you that you are not what you believe to be. I thought of you, and how you make me feel jealous of you. And I was right."

 _Since when I became like this…. Really this girl, she really make 3 of us to change a lot and see things we never see before. I envy her ability to do that to people so easily. And I will not refuse her anymore._

Parsee looked right into the satori eyes, who also returned it hesitantly. The satori's eyes was a bit calmer and she seemed to be feeling a bit better.

"So Koishi- _san_ , I want you to do me a favour… no, a request from me," Parsee said slowly, making sure Koishi heard every single word. "I want you to go to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and approach that vampire friend of ours, and make sure she come back to us, am I clear?"

Koishi opened her mouth in shocked, before nodding her head.

"Good, now go. We are running out of time. Your sister is probably already there telling Remilia that you will definitely go there."

Koishi stared at her for a moment before nodding again. "Thanks… Parsee-s _an_. I never thought you really went this far just for me."

"Hmph, that's because… you… you are also one of my friend. Of course I do care about you, you stupid, dense satori. " Parsee looked away in embarrassment, crossing her arms.

Koishi giggled at that confession. It sure took the hashihime a lot of courage to say that. "I understand. I'll go now. Sorry to hurt you badly like this."

"It's ok, Koishi- _san_. It's just scratches. Though you must know I will still forever be jealous of whatever you have for as long as I live."

Parsee turned back and gave her an encouraging look. They laugh quietly together for a while.

"I'll be going then. Oh by the way…" Koishi paused, looking below Parsee's face.

"You are showing your bra," Koishi told her, her face slightly turning red.

"Huh… what do you mean…" Parsee slowly looked down.

Parsee saw that her whole dress have became loose and folded to her midsection, revealing her blue bra that she was wearing underneath.

"Curse you, Koishi- _san_! You were the one who ripped my clothes!" Parsee said in embarrassment, pulling up her dress desperately to cover her top.

"But I think Yamame- _chan_ will be impressed. Your chest and skin looked beautiful. Seriously, someday you should wear something that match nicely with those gift of yours. Give it a try, believe me it will probably work."

At this moment, the hashihime was feeling so embarrassed and confused that she did not answer, and instead glared at the satori. Yuugi and Rin were sniggering away, covering their mouths.

The satori gave her an innocent smile before flying away from the hashihime, leaving her to her own state of embarrassment and confusion.

 _She look serious about that suggestion._ Yamame thought when the satori had already disappeared from her view. _Will it really work on Yamame-chan? I do have a few revealing dresses I never dare to wear outside…_

* * *

Fairies were flying near the edge of the large lake known as the Misty Lake in Gensokyo. None of them dared to cross it as it was very hard to see through at this time of the day and it was also fully filled with tricks of the mind if one were not to be careful of it.

On a ridge on one side of the lake sat the Scarlet Devil Mansion. On the other side was the Youkai Mountain, where a river runs through a forested area that feeds water into the lake.

Koishi emerged near the area where the river and lake meet. She took a look at the lake, trying to make sense of what was inside the mist.

She cautiously flew upwards from the ground and took a look around her surroundings.

 _Hmm… nothing in the lake or anything dangerous there,_ Koishi thought. _Just a few fairies and weak youkai lurking nearby._

Koishi decided to go through the mist, taking a risk hoping she would not get lost within it. It may not be that big, but she did know of the stories she heard such as an ice fairy who always claimed to dominate this place whenever someone passed by with her Greater Fairy friend living together and similar stuff.

* * *

It was already 15 minutes and the satori was still flying through the mist of the lake.

 _The lake cannot be this big, right? I am very sure I am heading towards the correct direction._

The satori stopped, trying to get bearing of where she was. She could sense the collective of magic radiating from the mansion which she was already going towards to. She should there by now yet, as she go towards that source, she did not seem to see it at all.

Koishi continued her fight but after 10 minutes of aimless flying, she stopped again.

 _This is way beyond big. Something off is going on here._

Koishi quickly scanned her surroundings and also looked in the water, wondering if there was someone who was playing mind tricks on her.

As soon as Koishi looked up to see what was ahead, she saw a small silhouette right in front of her, growing darker and clearer by the moment. She squinted her eyes to get a good look and soon enough, she could make out that it have wings and have the size of someone that was similar to her.

There were sounds of howling wind and sounded like gems knocking into one another when the figure emerged out into her visibility range.

Koishi realised it was Flandre Scarlet. But she looked like a totally different person.

Instead of her usual mostly white and red attire, she was wearing red and black dress, with her cap being black too. Her dress was much shorter, barely covering the top of her thighs. Her wings too have changed; it was not the 7 colours of the rainbow. It was instead from black to the different shades of grey and then white on each of the 2 branches. Her nails were already sharpened and when she opened her mouth, her 2 fangs were easily seen, like she was about to attack someone.

This different version of Flandre examined Koishi, wanting to observe how the satori looked like. She seemed very satisfied at what she saw.

"You really are an angel. Or demon since you came from Former Hell. You look more prettier than what Master have described you," Flandre sad, admiration in her voice.

"Who... who are you? You are definitely not Flan- _chan_ right?" Koishi stammered.

"Oh, I am her and not her at the same time. You will understand as time passes by. I was told that I would see you and fight you here and so here it is. I was the one that make you lost in this lake with a bit of my magic," Flandre bowed politely, excitement on her face.

Koishi backway away a bit, her thoughts and feelings confused.

"Oh C'mon, Koishi- _chan_. I am still somewhat the Flandre you know so well for the whole month," Flandre said sweetly and lovingly. "You want to get back to me right?"

"You are not Flandre. I can tell that easily. Who are you really?" Koishi demanded.

The Flandre look-alike placed both hands closed to her heart, like she was rejected by someone who she like. But she recovered quickly.

"No matter. Get ready, Koishi- _chan_ , this will definitely show you how much love I have for you," Flandre said softly, licking one of her finger while her eyes glowing red, as if she was trying to seduce Koishi.

 _She is definitely not her, even though the magic signature are the same. Looks like I got no choice._ Koishi thought. _I am a bit tired from the battle with Parsee but I should still be able to finish this battle._

"We will see. You promised to let me go after I defeat you to see the Flandre I know of?" Koishi asked.

"Of course. Master said that to me too. After all, defeating means that you have rejected me already anyway," Flandre replied.

"Good. Let's get started." Koishi said as she summoned a card from her hand.

"Ooh... a spell card battle with Koishi- _chan_." Flandre said, rubbing her hands excitedly with anticipation. "All right then. Let's do this."

Flandre summoned a card from her hand and her weapon, Laevateinn. Her weapon radiated black smoke at the top tip of it.

The satori took a deep breath when she declared her frequent used spell card,

" _Spell Card: Instinct "Release of the the Id"."_

The vampire made a small dance and turned one round before declaring,

" _Spell Card: Taboo "Cranberry Trap"."_

* * *

 **A/N: Just a note for anyone wondering why since chapter 5, why there are clothes being ripped off during fights.**

 **My reasoning is that they have strong bodies of youkai, but the clothes are the same as humans. And in a danmaku battle, things can get dirty and messy fast.**

 **In the game this do occur, though not as much as how I would have described. Personally, I am glad the game is that way cause it seems more appealing and interesting to imagine things on your own.**

 **~Youmu2hu**


	8. The Old Family Affair with the Puppeteer

**Chapter 8: The Old Family Affair with the Puppeteer**

* * *

"So that's all how it is," Satori concluded her tale.

Remilia and Sakuya were listening attentively to Satori. On their table was another person who was somewhat giving attention, Patchouli Knowledge.

Patchouli Knowledge (パチュリー・ノーレッジ), the Girl of Knowledge and Shade and someone who was born as a magician unlike Marisa and Alice. As suggested by her surname and title, she have a wide knowledge in a lot of things, including magic and science. Her dailyware consisted of a pink pajama-like clothing with a nightcap with a gold crescent moon on it. She have a faint strip of violet and purple on her clothes. She mostly confined herself to the mansion's library every day but in the insistence of her old-time friend, Remilia, she went out of the library in these few rare times.

Satori have just arrived at the mansion and was telling them everything that had happened underground before she left. They were at the balcony where Remilia usually served tea to her guests. Patchouli was reading through her purple spectacles a thick black book with strange symbols at the cover while taking down notes in a modern tablet. There was no company name on it as it have been erased by using it too frequently by its owner.

The librarian have no idea why her friend was asking her to be here stating that it was an emergency. So far, Remilia was not telling her anything useful or related to her yet so she just kept quiet while taking down notes.

Remilia did not commented on Satori's tale and sipped her tea slowly. She looked at the satori, trying to discern what the satori was feeling and thinking. The satori, realising that she was being observed, drank her tea shyly, keeping the small tea cup close to her face.

"I will check on Flandre _-sama_ if she's still in her room," Sakuya said to break the silence.

The mistress nodded in approval and Sakuya immediately disappeared.

"I am sure you call me out not to just let me know that Komeiji's sister came back for Flandre right?" Patchouli asked, her patience running out, adjusting her spectacles on her long purple hair while looking rather annoyed at Remilia with her purple eyes.

Satori looked up at Patchouli hesitantly, deciding if she should tell her, "Y...yeah, she's not. It's about some stuff me and Remi _-chan_ have hide from everyone. I thought it's best to tell you."

The vampire immediately grinned in satisfaction, as if she was already liking this new change that satori was going through even though the latter have not said anything yet.

 _Well, I never thought you would have a change of heart,_ Remilia thought.

"Me too, Remi- _chan_ ," Satori said, her nervousness still showing. "Ever since Alice turned into what she used to be before, things have been going too differently than what both of us thought it would be some decades ago. So it's best to have more people to help us and that will be you. We are not as powerful as we used to be when we are much younger."

With the mentioning of Alice, Patchouli put down her spectacles and kept it at the pocket of her pajamas and placed her book gently on top of the tablet while looking gravely serious and worry at the other 2. Remilia could not help but grinned again at her friend's reaction, who usually did not show any concern to anyone else except Remilia and herself.

"Tell me immediately what's going on with her," Patchouli demanded.

Satori turned her head to Remilia, who nodded encouragingly before turning to Patchouli and started talking.

* * *

Koishi Komeiji was flying close to the surface of the lake when she heard her opponent spoke to her softly near her back.

"Fufufu... don't run away, its not good for me being the only one fighting."

The similar-looking Flandre threw a few waves of 2 rows of red bullets at Koishi, and the satori quickly swerved upwards, trying to get a height advantage.

The battle should have proceeded normally for the satori if she was fighting others, but for this battle, no matter how much the personality of the vampire differed, she was still seeing her best friend physically. Her face may be quite different from the one she knew but it was still mostly the same for the rest of her. She managed to only cast her frequent used spell card once at the start and threw a few barrages of non-spell attacks, which they only managed to barely scratch the vampire.

Koishi made a wide curve around her opponent's position, who was floating still, and trying to see if there was an opening within the mist. She detected none. It seemed that the only way out was to defeat the vampire. She moved towards her opponent and hesitantly took out a card.

"Finally," the Flandre look-alike licked her lips in anticipation of a challenge, "You are going cast a spell card on me. You do realise the only way to get through this is to defeat me."

The confident vampire opened her arms wide, making herself very open, while giving the satori a 'I dare you to attack me' look.

Koishi took a slow deep breath, saying her words clearly, "Spell Card _: Symbol: "Danmaku Paranoia"."_

One blue solid orb came out one after another which split into many of the same size that moved slowly, making a fan-shaped attack towards Flandre.

"Thess orbs are so slow, why are you even using this spell card? This is so easy!" the vampire yawned, who flew slowly to the huge gap beside the blue orbs.

That was when suddenly, rows of pink arrow bullets surrounded the vampire, restricting her movement to a very small area to move around. The vampire jumped at excitement with the challenge and she carefully and expertly swerved left and right to avoid the blue solid orbs while making sure she was not hit by the pink arrows. The satori showed no surprise with her opponent's ability to be able to avoid them easily. As the spell went on, the gap between the blue orbs get smaller and denser. The vampire shot a few red bullets at the satori's location which she easily avoided as it was not that much.

Soon, the vampire have a problem grazing the blue orbs as the gap that she have to avoid the blue orbs were getting smaller and required a quicker reaction while being confined to the small space that she have.

Koishi took this opportunity to ask, "So who are you really? And who is this Master you mentioned?"

Flandre have some problems trying to talk and focused on avoiding the blue orbs at the same time. "Ok, I am not her but I do look like her, so the Flandre you knew is still in her mansion. You can call me Vesta, as in that Roman goddess that guarded the sacred Flame. Quite a perfect name for me due to my powers if I should say. As for my master…"

Before Vesta could finished, distracted by her talking to Koishi, she swerved too much to her right from the center of her small space she have that she was hit by the few pink arrows circling her. She took a few hits before she reacted to swerve back in, but she quickly dropped in height and was hit again by many of those at the bottom.

The satori smiled in satisfaction. She ended her spell card and quickly shoot several rows of discrete pink bullets in groups of 5. Vesta was looking down in the water when she heard the whoozing sound of bullets in front of her. She looked up and was immediately hit by one group on the face. It made Vesta to be in a daze and she fell further and reached close to the water, while trying to get hold of herself.

Koishi was smiling confidently with this sudden progress. If she knew it would not be this easy if she have attacked earlier, she would not have waste time trying to run away and forced to listen to Vesta's antics and insults. The satori summoned 5 long blue lasers, and aimed directly at the vampire.

As soon as the satori's lasers were about reached her opponent, suddenly, an ominous chill went up the satori's spine and she heard a deep voice of the vampire,

"Spell Card: _Taboo: "Laevateinn"."_

A very bright light shone on Koishi's view, made her covered her eyes with her hands and when the light dissipated a bit, she brought her hand down. There emerged Vesta and a long and huge flaming sword, several times longer than Vesta's height that was burning a few thousand degrees on her right hand. She was no longer in a playful mood anymore.

"You know what people always say," Vesta said, her voice becoming merciless and menacing, "Never be complacent no matter how easy it looks to you."

Vesta cackled with laughter, echoing throughout the lake and used the water to kick, gaining speed towards the satori, with both hands holding to prepare in swinging the red flaming sword.

Koishi crossed her arms in front of her face, ready to defend herself. Vesta slowly swung the sword from the Koishi's left and hit directly at the target. The satori was pushed away forcibly by the huge impact of the sword, and hit the water hard, making a huge splash and mini-tsunami on the lake despite her small body.

When the water settled, Koishi was seen sitting on the water, using what left of her energy to barely float just on the surface, while panting heavily. Vesta flew towards Koishi, and stopped when she was only a few meters away from Koishi with her weapon still on her right hand.

The satori did not move but her eyes were. She looked at the vampire pleadingly. She breathed deeply to catch her breath. There were mostly burned marks from the heat and impact of Vesta's sword on the underside of her arms from as she blocked it.

Vesta looked at her pitifully, "So it seems this is how much you can go. I am giving you one last chance to convey your love to me."

Koishi immediately answered with full confidence, "I will never change my mind no matter how much you look like her. My heart lies with Flandre, not you."

Vesta sighed in defeat, giving up on trying to change Koishi's mind. "Very well. This is goodbye then. Let me tell you first, that in respect for my love for you, I will give you a painless and quick death. Farewell, my lovely Koishi- _chan_."

Vesta raised her weapon with both hands and pointed towards Koishi. The satori opened her eyes wide, shocked that her death arrived too early on her life. There was so much things in her life that she have not done and experienced yet.

 _This should not be how I die… I thought I would die together with my friends at some remote place or post-apocalyptic scenario, not by some person who look like my vampire friend._

Vesta cackled loudly with pleasure and started swinging her sword. Koishi looked away, as the flame gets brighter and hotter.

 _Flan-chan, please,_ Koishi thought desperately. _I need you now. I will do anything you ask if I survive this battle._

A few seconds later, there was a loud clanking sound of swords and a very bright light, burning the satori's eyes so much that she have to close her eyes from the blinding light that would seal her death. Huge waves of the lake formed around the duo as Vesta's burning sword reached a target.

* * *

"I am sure you know she was originally a human, right?" Satori wanted to know how much Patchouli knew about Alice.

"Yes. This is common knowledge for everyone in Gensokyo," Patchouli nodded.

"Then do you know about her family coming from a line of human magicians?"

"This is something I know too, given where I came from. The Margatroid family do have a big reputation, along with my family too."

"Very good. Then, I guess you don't know this. Do you know that there were 2 Alice at the moment?" Satori asked, expecting a reaction.

The satori was not disappointed. The great librarian immediately stood up, looking very irritated and glared fiercely at her vampire friend immediately, her purple eyes demanding an answer.

"Relax, Pache," Remilia said calmly, using the nickname that only she used for the librarian. "Your asthma may get to you if you do that."

"You telling me to relax? I am Patchouli Knowledge! I should know everything that happened especially to someone who is very close to me! Someone who come from my rival family! What do you mean by there's 2 of her?" Patchouli slammed her hand on the book hard, and they heard the sound of glasses breaking.

 _I should not have ask that. I think I just hurt her pride there,_ Satori thought guiltily.

"Sit down, Pache. Satori _-chan_ will explain everything to you. That is why I am calling you out here. And please, you have no idea how expensive and hard it was to buy that tablet just for you." Remilia said, not really affected by Patchouli's over-reaction.

Patchouli sat down, crossing her arms. "I don't care. I can go back to my normal way of writing down on paper."

"Really?" Remilia raised her eyebrows. "When I see you keep playing that Flappy Bird game just to vent your anger and frustration with a certain human magician for stealing your books and your loneliness of not seeing Alice?"

Patchouli turned red and looked away. She recovered quickly and now glared fiercely at Satori, wanting to change the topic fast. Satori sighed.

"This is how much I can remember. Remi- _chan_ can add for me if I left out anything important."

* * *

"You! How did you managed to get in here?" Vesta demanded angrily.

Koishi slowly opened one of her eyes despite feeling the scorching hot and bright flame just a few centimeters away from her head. What she saw was terrifying and relieving to her.

Beside her was Flandre with her own sword, exactly the same as Vesta, which was now perpendicular to Koishi's body. She was blocking Vesta's weapon using her own. Both of the flaming swords were making big sparks and was pushing against one another.

Flandre did not answer, instead, she gave her sword a final hard push, eventually making Vesta lost control of her grip and letting go of her weapon momentarily, throwing it upwards and away from the trio. It landed on the water a distance away from them and was quickly extinguished and vanished. Without giving a chance for Vesta to respond, Flandre swung her sword towards her, and hit her hard on the flat side of the sword, throwing her a few several hundred meters away into the water. The enemy did not came back to the surface.

There was an awkward silence as Flandre turned to face Koishi. Both became speechless. It was 3 days since they last see each other which was the longest ever since they met. Flandre scratched the back of her hair with one hand, looking down, not knowing where to start in this uncomfortable moment "Err…umm..."

Without any warning, the satori immediately hugged her best friend. The vampire, surprised, dropped her weapon which disappeared and reluctantly returned her hug. She heard a few sniffing and sobbing sounds from her best friend but she did not say anything. But it quickly ended and the satori let go of her hug and held both the vampire's hand tightly, with a few tears sprouting from her eyes.

"You came back to me. I am so glad you did," Koishi felt relieved, as if she was never felt so for a hundred years. "But why? I thought you were still mad at me."

Flandre was fidgeting uncomfortably on her hands, gathering her thoughts. "Yes… I was. At that time it was partially my fault too. You see, seeing my friends in that state made me turned into those moments where my emotions and mental stability go haywire, just like how I used to be back then. So yeah, it made me said those mean words to you, so... I'm sorry."

Koishi could not believe what she was hearing. She used a hand to rub her eyes. "I understand. I am sorry too. It was still a fact I did not do anything to help anyone."

"Yeah about that, you owe me an explanation for it," Flandre demanded, pretending to look angry.

The satori let go of her friend's hand and turned to look around at the mist so she could calm herself down. "I realised it as soon as Parsee- _san_ mentally abused me while we fought at my mansion before I came here."

"Mentally abused, huh. Why that hashihime…"

"Please, it worked on me so just forgive her this time, ok?" Koishi said desperately.

"Fine. It's not like I really care about what she do," Flandre shrugged, and Koishi managed an amused expression before she started explaining.

It seemed that when Flandre had left Koishi alone in the Bamboo forest, both sides of her mind, the conscious mind which contained some of her human emotions, and her subconscious mind which have the hidden ones were fighting to dominate one another. It brought mental suffering and agony to her heart and mind, along with her 3rd Eye as the 3rd Eye was also in the verge of losing control. This was due to the emergence of a long lost emotion conflicting within herself at that moment. The satori felt the feeling of love, one of the few hidden feelings that she did not felt for a very long time.

It was the reason that she did not help her friends. Her drive for caring and show kindness to others was by her subconscious mind and not because she wanted to. So when she saw her friends got hurt, she was not able to move what she intended to do because deep inside, she was actually prioritising her own safety. After all, she only regained some of her human emotions and control, not all of them since her 3rd Eye was still closed. However, the old version of her got better of it, making her reverting to how she originally was before the current one which was where she was purely driven and lived by her subconsciousness. Only very little of the current her was left intact. That explained the reason why she did not came back to Flandre throughout those 3 days, until Parsee came to her and help her in returning to the current Koishi.

Koishi lastly said that she was not sure if her conscious feeling of love for people have completely returned. She did not mentioned on what she said after Flandre left her on the Bamboo Forest, just stating love as a general feeling for everyone.

Flandre listened attentively and quietly the whole moment even when Koishi have stopped talking. The silence became a bit uncomfortable for the satori so she thought of another topic, "Um… anyway, how did you find me here?"

Flandre raised her eyebrows, "Oh it was pretty easy. I sensed yours and my magic even though I did not do anything, which got me very curious. I went in the lake and suddenly I saw you fighting with that vampire who looked very similiar to me. How I am being allowed to get through, I got no idea. I have always believed you came back to me even before today and I was right. You are definitely not a heartless youkai that most people believe you to be so."

The satori stared at the vampire and suddenly, hugged her best friend again and cried out of happiness and relieved. It was unbelievable to her. Flandre have confidence that she would return while Koishi herself did not. She thought that she was a bad person, not trusting her friends completely. All of her friends were trying to help her despite what she did to them. It made her felt very guilty and disappointed in herself.

Then, a new feeling and determination in her heart came to Koishi. She made sure that she would completely trust her friend and believed in them. It seemed she was the only one who still have doubts about trusting anyone except for her sister so she should try to do so with them for a start.

The satori decided that she would never doubt their actions ever again.

They hugged for very long, with only the calm movement of the water in the lake breaking their silence once in awhile.

* * *

At the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Satori was getting ready to tell her tale to the other 2, though Remilia knew it already. Nevertheless, she still want to listen.

Satori paused for a while before starting, while the other 2 were giving their fullest attention. "Almost a century ago, before me and Remi- _chan_ met you, Patchouli- _san_ , in a western country in Europe, a human child named Alice was born into the Margatroid family. As you know, each of the Margatroid family will either have one of the person or both parents being known as one of the best and greatest western magician of that time."

"Hey," Patchouli interrupted. "What makes you think that her family was better than mine?"

"Pache, now is not the time to show your ego and pride on your family," Remilia said, slightly irritated by Patchouli constant interrupted remarks.

"Sorry, Patchouli _-san_. Let me add something then," Satori apologised sincerely and Patchouli became quiet.

The librarian did not mind when Satori addressed her by first name as that was what she told everyone. It would be weird to call her by her surname. Only her closer friends would they address her by a nickname.

Satori continued, "I know that yours and Alice's family have fought quite a lot of time in the past but now it's pretty much peaceful and no longer relevant. After all, both of you were the only ones alive at the present moment and you are now very close to her, right?"

The librarian nodded in confirmation, and the satori continued. "There were no other families that rival those 2, that's for sure. Anyway, coming back, when Alice was born, there was some fighting among the members of the family since she was a female. Everyone preferred a son to take over the family. It was something that seemed unacceptable, especially the parents she had were the highest in order of class and affluence."

"In the end, she was chosen to be a magician to continue the bloodline of the Margatroids, as she was guaranteed to be the next in line as the leader of the family. Of course, there was still some disagreements but eventually everyone came to accept her once they saw her huge potential she had. She was unlike any other magician people have seen because the magical ability that she had shown at such a young age for a human was impossible to even theoretically calculate."

"So, we come to the teenage Alice. Now, trained in the magical arts so well by her family and relatives, she was soon going to be an adult and ready to defend and possibly marry someone for her family. They expected a lot from her. They were confident that she would soon overturn the ongoing battle with the Knowledge family and win the centuries-old rivalry. However, what they did not know that Alice was only interested to become what we all know she was now, a fully-fledged magician. Like how you are already born as, Patchouli _-san._ That as you know it too, was why both families fought each other for centuries, to see if human magicians or magician as a species were the dominant one."

Satori sipped her tea, as Patchouli looked down with revulsion, recalling her not-so-great family past and life. It was full of lies and so many untrustworthy people who betrayed each other for their own survival. Even within her own family.

Satori continued, "So once the family knew what she was about to do, they disowned and exiled her from her own home country. Thus, Alice, with nowhere to go, decided to settle on an eastern country which was Japan. Or more specifically, Gensokyo, the few remaining places on Earth where she could use magic out in the open."

"Wait, she was here that long? And how did she through the Hakurei Border in Gensokyo alone?" Patchouli asked, feeling jealous that Alice could do such things.

"I don't know, but she was a powerful human magician so she must have figured that out in some way. Anyway, she was here for some time. That was how I knew her. I was a young satori at that time, still not in charge of the current Former Hell yet. I can say we became quite close friends too, so she told me about her history. Like how much she did not like her family and her goal to be a true magician." Satori replied, not affected my Patchouli's jealous stare.

"But that was for a while, then came what the ordinary humans called World War I. At that time, I am sure you, Patchouli- _san,_ remembered how at the same time, both families fought fiercely resulting in huge casualties alongside the modern battles the humans fought with. In the end, only a few strong ones were left as the survivors of the war and it was considered a stalemate from both sides."

Satori lowered her voice, as if recalling the memory was a dreadful thing to do. "I remembered clearly that when the war ended, Alice immediately changed. She decided to make use of the effects of the war as an opportunity to have complete dominance over the magician world and also bring her family name in a complete new direction. A new revolution into a new era of magic should I describe that perfectly. Hence, she trained hard to become a fully-fledged magician, not as a human, but as a species. As all of you know, she managed to do that eventually, right here, when the war had recently ended. But she achieved that with forbidden magic which was dark magic."

Satori paused as she, gave a dark look. "Next, came to where the humans fought each other in another similar but more devastating war known as World War II. Alice, with her new dark magic and non-aging body, have planned for many years and started rampaging all over Japan and Europe to eradicate all of the youkai and any remaining magician except Gensokyo. At that time, the name Alice became taboo all around the supernatural world. However, she left Gensokyo alone. She told me when she came to her close friend which was me that the reason why she won't do it here because this was her true home. She also told me how she eliminated all her own remaining family members and the Knowledge family, ensuring that no one else could rise to fight her. She said that with no remorse, and offered me to join in her ambitions. Obviously, I refused and went to our separate ways. That was where I believe you, Remi _-chan_ came in."

"Let me guess. Remi, Komeiji- _san_ came to you for help, am I right?" Patchouli guessed.

"Yes. You are right, Pache. We heard of each other though we never met before that," Remilia said.

Satori nodded, "So yeah, I first heard of vampires by reading the thoughts of the outside people who came to Gensokyo since in the west, one of the terrifying creatures that had been scaring everyone are the vampires, while in the east, are the satori, even to this day. The satori may not be as powerful as someone like Yukari, the Yamas, or the dragon gods, but because of our mind-reading abilities, we are always being isolated from and feared by everyone, even from the divine beings like celestials and goddesses."

"I heard specifically of Remi- _chan_ by reputation when I went to Europe so I came to her home which at that time, in France, and we discussed about how to deal with Alice. Remilia agreed in helping me to stop Alice since it also affected France. At first, we used our servants and asked any friends who were still alive to work together in stopping her and her slave dolls but she proved to be a very formidable and near impossible opponent to defeat. After many plans and tries, we settled for our last resort." Satori's voice suddenly turn to guilt, as if she done something so unforgivable. "Remi- _chan_ , I think you tell her this part. Just saying this made me that feel like sending myself literally to hell for doing that to my sister."

The vampire sighed, and she turned to her librarian friend, who was now feeling very curious at lost of the calm attitude of the satori. "Satori and I decided to use our sisters as weapons to stop her. I will never admit to anyone except both of you and Sakuya, but you do know how Flandre is more powerful than me. That goes for Koishi too. At that time, Koishi had just closed her 3rd eye and Satori told her what she was going to do and being the only one she completed trusted even in her subconscious state, listened to her without asking anything."

"So that finally stopped Alice?" Patchouli asked, as if such a simple solution could have stop her just like that.

"Yes, but it was a very tough battle." Remilia's face turned very dark and looked very repulsed on the memory, causing her to move uncomfortably at her chair, which surprised Patchouli.

"Both of us was just sitting at the sidelines watching our 2 sisters fighting Alice for hours. As mere weapons who did not feel or care for anything else except protecting their older sisters. I can remember vividly, the explosions, the huge amount of magic that was expanded on that day and the amount of blood that was given out from hundreds of innocent lives and blood splattered all over the battlefield. But we had no choice. Those 2 were our only hope. We can't get other stronger youkai like Yukari or that Yama judge to be involved in this affair because we knew that this was something we must settle ourselves. And with a bit of luck and change of fate, they managed to bring her down and we brought her to this mansion."

 _So Alice was not joking when she said she rarely use her full power huh?_ Patchouli thought. _She must be someone extraordinary for needing 2 very strong youkai to bring her down._

"Yes, she was telling the truth," Satori said quietly to Patchouli's thought, which the latter did not respond further.

Then, both Remilia and Satori became quiet, as they did not want to continue. Patchouli seeing this, continued for them.

"Ah yes, now I think this was where I came in. I was only on my pre-teens but already achieved a lot of things." Patchouli said proudly. "And you, Remi, came up to me when I was the last surviving Knowledge and was secretly in hiding. You offered me the library as a place to experiment and trained my magic. In return, you asked me to make an advanced magic solution that erases and alter a specific memory of any living being. I did not asked what you used it for but now, my guess that you used it on your sisters and Alice."

Remilia nodded while Satori covered her face, still feeling very guilty and disgusted with the scene she remembered of using her sister as a weapon.

"Yes, that was why we are doing it again." Remilia spoke as calm as she could manage. "History is being repeated right here, and it's affecting the whole of Gensokyo. No Reimu and Yukari is going to interfere as this is not their business. It's our family affair that had happened before. Except that we removed the thought of using our sisters as mere weapons and let them actually start a real relationship. We can't bear the guilt more than we can already. That was why I suggested to Yukari to bring in a bit of modern technology in, of course with many conditions and sacrifice. But I find it worthy to do this if it's for the sake of all of us and our sister's survival. It's best to let the ones next in line who one day replace us to experience the harsh reality of life if we were to die someday."

"Then what about the comment on 2 Alice Satori made earlier? And why did Alice is trying to make another incident, on her own home area this time?" Patchouli asked.

"Ahh, that was because-" Satori have recovered and was about to continue when she was interrupted by Sakuya, who emerged beside her mistress and whispered to her ear.

The mistress nodded and spoke something back to Sakuya before she disappeared again. Her expression changed quickly to that of slight concern. "Looks like we have a problem. Flandre is not in her room."

Satori stood up immediately, "Then, where is she?"

"Apparently, the Misty Lake have been acting a bit stranger than usual so she is most probably there. We will go there, she may be with your sister." Remilia stood up, though her voice remained calm and neutral.

With that, Satori immediately grabbed Remilia's hand and flew out of the mansion, and the vampire did not do anything to suppress the sudden movement.

"I'll follow both of you this time. I'm not allowing this incident happening without me knowing. Both of you can continue after we find her." Patchouli said behind them, which her vampire friend nodded, smiling sincerely for the rare times.

* * *

"Fufufu… quite a little nice reunion you have there, Koishi _-chan._ That means I am rejected." a disappointed voice spoke behind them.

The duo turned to where Vesta had landed, what they saw was indeed Vesta. Her dress was wet but she still have the energy to remain afloat above the surface of the lake. She seemed to have recover a bit from her injuries and there was barely any tear in her clothing.

"Why do you look quite similar to me? And why are you attacking Koishi- _chan_?" Flandre demanded, her hands turning into fists.

"Let me answer that for you, Flandre- _chan_ ," a gentle voice spoke from behind Vesta.

2 silhouettes were seen in the mist behind Vesta and eventually emerged to either side of her. Koishi and Flandre gasped when they recognised who they were, at least one of them though the other could be counted too.

On the left was Alice, with her grimoire on her right hand. She was the same as always, and her red eyes was sparkling with satisfaction of the scene she saw in front of her.

On the right was a young girl, similar in age as the two. She was wearing a long-sleeved black gothic dress, with a small long gap in the middle exposing a white shirt she wore inside. There were white frills on the elbows and at the bottom of her dress which was only covering the middle of her thighs. She wore an identical black hat as Koishi, but red instead of yellow ribbons.

What stood out the most for the duo was that she also have a 3rd Eye, but it was blue instead of Koishi's purple. It was also closed.

This new stranger bent down and placed a hand on her high knee socks, covered by her black high-heel shoes, emphasizing her curves on her waist, chest and hips, which was more obvious than Koishi. Then, she straightened up and gave them a seductive smile.

The girl immediately looked intently at Flandre, her sea blue eyes literally sparkling with light. It seemed that this girl looked somewhat like Koishi in the same case with Vesta with Flandre, with the obvious difference was her clothes and hair, which the hair was also the same colour as her eyes.

"At last, you have no idea how much I love to meet you, Flan _-chan_! Manami hope we can have a lovely night battle in bed soon!" the girl jumping in exhilaration, wanting to go towards the Flandre, but she held back her desires.

Both of them ignored what this girl that called herself Manami had said. The duo slowly turned to Alice, their faces demanding an explanation.

Alice sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly "Seriously, both of you are just too clueless about everything. What's wrong with your sisters, all these should be their job explaining to you, not mine. I No matter, I think they will tell you right after this so I decided that I will tell you first. They will owe me for doing this for you."

Alice told them exactly what Satori and Remilia had told Patchouli in the mansion. Except she left out on having 2 Alice and why she was making an incident here this time.

"That means, I met Flan- _chan_ before?" Koishi said, breathing hard as she tried to take everything in.

"Looks like it. But do not ask me why you do not remember. I have no clue either," Alice said before the 2 could ask. "I remember the last time I saw was both of you bringing me down and I passed out. Then, the next time I woke up, I found myself in Alice's house with so many changes that have happened over these few decades that have passed."

"Then, that means there are 2 of you!" Flandre pointed at Alice.

Vesta shot a few bullets upwards which exploded in fireworks. Alice clapped, "Congrats, the Diabolic Wave. You seem smarter than your idiotic sister. So how did you figure that out?"

Flandre ignored the insult on her sister and beamed proudly, "Because I met you a lot of times before, Alice- _san_."

"You know her?" Koishi asked, which both the vampire and the puppeteer nodded.

"Yes, but this was not her that I know of," the vampire turned to her friend and was feeling contented at the memory of the other Alice. "The Alice I know quite well is very gentle, kind and always worry for others even though she is embarrassed to show it clearly much like you Koishi. She kept herself mostly to her place with her dolls but frequently came to the library to see Patchouli- _san_ and help her experiment in a lot of things. She always allow me to play with her pretty dolls no matter how many times I broke them," Flandre paused and turned to Alice. "And your eyes, hers was a dark blue but those are red. I can tell that you are more dangerous and not so nice as the other Alice. Since I am right, where's the other Alice then?"

"Let me answer that for you, Flandre- _chan._ Aww, you're so adorable like that, just like my dear Vesta." Alice cooed.

Vesta placed both hands on her cheeks in embarrassment, "Thanks, master."

Manami giggled and was fangirling while pulling Alice's dress, "Please master. Manami want to grab Flan-chan's wings and pet her head badly. Manami cannot control her desires anymore."

"Soon. Let me explain this bit to them then you can do all you want, like the night battle you want so badly with her on your bed," Alice said gently, and turned to the duo.

Koishi was looking disgusted at the fact that Manami, who looked similarly to her, addressing herself in 3rd person. She reminded herself never to do that for herself.

"Anyway, yes, there are 2 Alices. But there is only one me in here right now. Get it so far?"

Koishi and Flandre shook their heads. Alice sighed in exasperation, "What I mean that there is one body of Alice, but inside this body, there are both versions of us residing in it."

There was total silence for some time as the truth set in. Koishi spoke up first, "But how is that possible?"

"Hmm, to be honest with you, I also do not fully understand that too. Patchouli- _san_ probably knows everything. That Girl of Knowledge and Shade, with her knowledge and ability at that time, was able to successfully create a totally different persona of me in just one body, while sealing the current me you are seeing with this headband of mine." Alice explained, pointing to the red headband on her hair. "I do admit that Patchouli- _san_ have such great talent to be able to achieve that at such a very young age. But I had prepared during that time a backup plan in case I failed to achieve what I want to do at that time."

Koishi and Flandre float silently, contemplating with their thoughts. It was a lot to take in. There was still some things here and there that require some explanation that was still on both minds, but Alice looked like she did not want to talk further. Instead she let her servants do the talking now.

Koishi turned to look at the girl who looked similarly like her. The girl realised that the satori was staring at her and she smiled politely. Koishi wanted to return the smile but she remembered that she was a servant of the enemy.

Koishi managed to asked, "Now why do you look similar to me except your clothes? Same for Vesta- _san_ with Flandre. Since you addresses Alice as Master, that means Alice, you created them?

The puppeteer gave a smug. Manami nodded, agreeing with what Koishi had said.

"You are half-right," Manami said. "Master only created Manami's and Vesta's body. However, our soul, and our source of magic was not by her. Those parts were given birth from someone else."

Manami looked at Koishi affectionately, her eyes seemed to reflect the water beneath them and lowered her head while staring intently at Koishi. The Closed Eyes of Love held her breath, expecting what Manami would say next may be the worst thing that could happen to her.

Vesta turned to Flandre and did the same way. Flandre placed a finger on her chin, wondering why both of their near identicals were showing these feelings to them.

There was a pause, and both of them said in a gentle and polite voice that have not been heard before.

"My name is Vesta Scarlet."

"My name is Manami Komeiji."

Another pause went on for a few seconds before they continued, as both Flandre and Koishi just realised the significance of these 2 girls.

"We are your daughters."


	9. The Two Satori's Endless Plight

**Chapter 9: The Two Satori's Endless Plight**

* * *

Satori was walking through the corridor of Eirin's hospital. She glanced at the visitors around her who came to visit someone who are dear or related to them. There was a lively atmosphere as they were able to converse with their patients normally with those they were visiting. It was a comfortable sight to see that at least, these patients have woken up and able to chat, knowing that they were guaranteed to recover soon. It was so unlike the situation where Satori was heading to.

As Satori turned at the corner, she reached a door a door labeled ' _ICU_ ' (Intensive Care Unit).

This was where she wanted to go. There was someone she wanted to see. More accurately 2 of them. One was a patient and the other was a visitor of the patient.

After a few minutes of walking, Satori reached the room she was searching for. On her right was a white plain door to a patient's room while directly opposite of it were several chairs with a person occupying one of it. She have her face in her hands with the top half of her body bent down. This was a sight of someone who was barely holding her last hope that the person she cared so deeply would wake up from her deep sleep someday.

Satori, without saying any words, sat beside the visitor. The visitor gave no indication that she sensed Satori's presence beside her. Satori turned her head to look at the visitor, and knew who she was.

It was her younger sister, Koishi Komeiji.

Despite not able to read her thoughts, Satori could guess what was going on in her sister's mind.

 _She's barely holding up that glimpse of hope she have._ _I wish I can do something for her. Why must I be so useless in these situations?_ Satori thought in frustration.

She placed a hand around her sister's back, patting lightly. Koishi straighten up, removing her hand from her face and looked at Satori.

Koishi's eyes was watery and fully red from days of crying. She sniffed a bit as she looked hopelessly at her sister.

Koishi dive into Satori's chest and let her be in that position, without saying or making any sound. Satori could not think of any words of comfort as she have done so many times ever since Koishi have turned in this depressing state. But it barely work. In fact, after some time, it became worse and Satori have problems getting her attention recently. She wondered if her sister was going to be like this forever.

The older satori turned to look at the door. At the top of it, there was the labelling of the patient's name, the one that both of them have came to visit.

' _Flandre Scarlet,'_ it read.

Satori went back to her sister. Koishi went up to her normal sitting position and looked down, her face was more calm but still in a depressing state.

"Sorry to ask this of you, but you never told us what happened before we reached you." Satori said with gentleness and sympathy. "Can you tell me what happened to both of you?"

Koishi struggled to make a decision before she nodded reluctantly.

* * *

 _1 week ago..._

A lot of thoughts went through Koishi's mind when she heard what their 'daughters' had just said. She stared unbelievingly at her 'daughters'.

Flandre recovered fast but did not noticed Koishi's reaction.

The Sister of the Devil laughed, getting curious reaction from her enemies. She hesitantly asked, "Both of you simply said those words just to put us off, right?"

Both Vesta and Manami still showed their serious yet affectionate expression. Flandre stopped laughing. She sighed, placing a hand on her forehead while shaking her head, refusing to accept the truth.

 _How is it possible that I have daughters? It can't be that me and Flandre have… have… s-s-s-sex with me in the past right?_ Koishi thought as she felt the heat coming to her despite the cold, misty environment she was in.

Meanwhile, Flandre placed both her hands on both cheeks and she was blushing furiously. Her aura became bright pink with embarrassment as she struggled to keep up with her composure. She seemed to have the same thoughts as Koishi. She violently shook her head before glaring seriously at Alice.

"You are saying… that me and Koishi- _chan_ d-d-did that many decades ago?" Flandre struggled to continue as she felt her face becoming hotter.

Alice looked quite satisfied with the reaction she got. "Maybe. Both of you are quite mature to do so, even back then."

"They did what, Master?" Vesta asked curiously like a kid.

"You don't have to know, Vesta. It is an adult thing."

"Does this have to do with that night battle you keep telling Manami, Master?" Minami asked.

"Yes, but you will understand much better once you get older and have someone you like," Alice laughed at the innocence and childish mind of her servants.

 _So, Manami-san have no clue what a night battle at the bed is when Alice mentioned it to her vaguely,_ Koishi concluded based on their conversation. _Despite their appearance like us, they still have a mind of a kid as if they are our daughters._

Koishi cringed, as her memory of her conversation with Alice about her own chest came back to her, _I think Alice is a closet pervert. She been saying a lot of dirty things in front of me._

Koishi thoughts went back to what Manami and Vesta have said. At that thought, her mind became empty instantly, unsure of what to believe or trust anyone when they were talking about something related to her. There was just too many secrets she was being kept from. Her own sister, Alice, Remilia who all knew what happened for many decades.

Alice turned to the duo. "They decided among themselves earlier without me telling them that it would be best to tell both of you a bit about themselves. You do not need to believe them though. "

"Of course not. Right Koishi- _chan_?" Flandre laughed, turning to her best friend.

Flandre stopped when she saw her friend.

Her dark-green eyes.

It was the same kind of eyes that she have seen many times.

That blank, distant look, void of all expressions.

"K-Koishi- _chan_?" Flandre asked, unsure if she should call her.

No response.

The vampire called her name again. The satori ear's finally registered her friend's voice.

"Flan- _chan_?" Koishi's voice was barely audible.

"Yes?"

"They said they are our daughters. They are lying right?" Koishi asked solemnly.

Flandre found her throat stucked on answering that question. She did not know at first how to answer the question without making both of them accepting the reality if it's true.

"Yes." Flandre replied, as she looked hard at Koishi's eyes. "I do not believe what they say. So don't worry, Koishi- _chan_."

The vampire moved closer to the satori and held her hands tightly to her best friend's left hand. She felt the sweating and shaking hand of the satori.

"Koishi- _chan_ ," Flandre said softly with tenderness. "I know there is so many things that we have yet to know and may still hidden from us by our sisters but please, I need you to work with me now to defeat them."

 _What do I not know? About whether these are our 2 daughters from the past? And the fact that our sisters hide all these from us?_ Each thought made Koishi felt more depressed. _I wonder if there is more than just this._

Koishi's eyes came to settle on Flandre's eyes.

Those pretty red eyes. They never failed to amaze her. It was something she always like to looked at when she was talking to the owner of those eyes or seeing the need to calm down.

The sparkling eyes who believed in her, the one that trusted her. Her best friend who she admired and just recently, whom she loved.

 _Flandre always stood with me all this time since we have met. And she was doing it again._

Koishi laughed quietly in her thoughts. _I came out from my hiding to save her. Yet in the end, again, she is still the one saving me as usual. Which was why she make me fall in love with her. She care so much about me._

Flandre held her hand even tighter, trying to get Koishi's attention.

After a few moments, Koishi relaxed and gave Flandre a small smile, feeling comfort with her best friend's actions. Flandre nodded and relaxed her grip. Both of them turned to their enemies, each of one of their hands still holding onto each other.

"This is quite interesting." Alice said, impressed and seeing how determined Koishi and Flandre suddenly become.

"It is interesting indeed," Flandre grinned. "So interesting that I feel like polluting this lake with the blood of all 3 of you."

Flandre summoned her crooked-clock needle weapon without the flame on her free hand. She licked her mouth, loving the thought she have said. It's been a while she have a very great motivation to break some things, especially when there was blood involved. She glanced at Koishi, who was laughing silently at her recollection of her usual best friend favourite past-time of breaking stuff at school.

However, Alice sighed with disappointment. "Sadly, we must stop here. It looks like the residents of your mansion have notice us here."

"Fufufu… running away?" Flandre taunted.

"Of course. There are times when retreating become part of a strategy. But I leave you with this nice parting gift. Manami- _chan,_ if you please." Alice said, bowing her head.

Flandre and Koishi immediately noticed that Manami have disappeared. They became panicked and looked around their surroundings, searching frantically for her. They could not sense her emotions or presence of her at all.

 _She's using the same ability of hiding her presence as mine,_ Koishi thought. _Truly expecting of the person who claimed to my daughter moments ago._

That was when she noticed a slight disturbance in the mist quickly moving towards Flandre.

" **FLAN-** _ **CHAN**_ **, WATCH OUT!"** Koishi shouted, realising what was going to happen next.

Suddenly, something big and flashy hit Flandre in the stomach, and a magic circle appeared in front of her. Flandre bent down and placed her free hand on her stomach, holding the pain. Manami immediately appeared in their vision.

"Manami didn't get what she wanted to do. So she will leave you with this," Koishi heard Minami said to Flandre.

Manami recited a few magic words, with both her hands crossed on Flandre's stomach. The magic circle slowly expanded to her height.

Koishi felt as if time have slowed down for her as she witnessed the horror in front of her eyes.

The purple circle expanded to twice of Flandre's height when a huge long purple magical stream enveloped around Flandre. It was just a few seconds but Flandre felt pain all over her body and she screamed loudly. Her strength and magical power was leaving her very quickly. This magic was unusual in Gensokyo, but Koishi felt it before. It was a dark spell. The exact same one as what Alice used to make Flandre more aggressive than usual when both of them walked at the Forest of Magic 2 weeks ago.

Manami kept her hand on Flandre and became engulfed with amusing and satisfying laughter with the sight of what she saw. A few seconds later, the magical circle disappeared and Flandre immediately fell towards the lake. Koishi, realising what was happening, quickly dived down towards her best friend.

 _This can't be the end of me right?_ Koishi heard Flandre thought faintly.

Manami heard that thought too, "Maybe. But Master told me that she must do this to you. Its for both of your own good."

Manami's voice was slowly fading from the satori's ears as she continued, "Manami hope you make a good choice on your future, Flan- _chan._ She do not want to know that after this, you will not return. Manami will then regret doing this to her own mother if that happens."

 _So I am going to die as soon I reach the water? At one of the place where vampires are weak? And what about the future?_ The satori heard the vampire's thought became more softer.

Flandre's view slowly became blurry and she heard sounds of laser and bullets flying by with some beings wearing purple, red and blue clothing approaching Alice and Vesta. Koishi heard the fighting that was happening behind her but she ignored them completely as she straighten her path towards Flandre.

 _Koishi-chan, please don't cry. I want to see you smile before I disappear from here._

The satori shook her head, refusing to agree with that statement. They cannot separate this easily despite their shortcomings and problems they have. The experiences they have with each other was just too short for both of them.

Koishi saw Flandre's lips moved, saying something barely audible before the vampire's back hit the water extremely hard.

" **NO!"** Koishi shouted, refusing to give up hope.

The satori took a long, deep breath and dived into the icy, cold lake.

As Koishi swim slowly towards Flandre, who was slowly sinking and remained still, all of her memories of Flandre came back to her in an instant. It gave the satori more determination. She reached her hand out and managed to grab the vampire's hand tightly, feeling the soft and smooth touch of the vampire's pale skin.

Koishi, with whatever strength she have left, pulled both of them up to the surface of the water. She panted heavily as she catch her breath and examined her best friend's condition.

Flandre's eyes was closed and her body was not moving an inch. She was not even breathing at all.

This was as if Flandre have just died.

However, there was something else in her mind.

Koishi's mind immediately came to what Flandre have last said.

"Shi- _chan_ , thank you for being my first love… "

What left of the satori was a bit of her sanity and her throat drying out as she released all of the feelings she have for her lover.

* * *

 _Present time..._

"I'm sorry," was the only thing Satori could say after hearing what Koishi have told her.

Koishi looked down gravely with grief and sadness.

Fortunately, Flandre did not die. But according to Reisen, she was actually induced by Minami to become in a state similar to that of a coma, something that a vampire should not experience. The dark spell Minami used, given by Alice, made it possible for Flandre to become that way.

However, Reisen could not determine when Flandre would wake up. The magic was acting stranger than the norm, since foreign magic in the body dissipates over time, allowing the person it resided in to be completely free from it. But the dark magic inside Flandre all stayed within, as if it was part of her. Reisen have tried as much as she could to reduce and removed some of it, but some significant amount of the dark magic was still inside. As it was embedded with her body, the dark magic could not be remove completely. The lunarian rabbit doctor told Koishi that she should not give up hope that she would wake up someday.

 _But when will that happen?_ Satori thought. _If my sister and Flandre are to be like this for a very long time, then what should we do with Alice? Our problems still remains the same as ever._

Just as that event occur, Satori and her group managed to penetrate the barrier created by Alice, with Patchouli's help. But by the time they reached there, Minami have just struck Flandre down. All 3 of them quickly escaped, with the help of Alice's magic. Sakuya and Patchouli could not find them around the Misty Lake, as probably they have concealed their presence and gotten away quickly. As Patchouli and Sakuya searched for the group, both Satori and Remilia went to attend to their respective sisters.

The feeling and memory that Satori felt from her own sister screaming her best friend's name at the top of her lungs in the middle of the lake, deafening to her ears even from a distance was something she would always remind herself of how much suffering and torture she was still bringing to her sister. Both in the past, and the present.

Satori became disappointed at her own inability and weakness to comfort her sister, and also failed to realise how much progressed Koishi and Flandre have made. This was another memory she would always remember and never forgive herself for making them going through this terrible ordeal that might have prevented by her and Remilia.

 _Let's see what will happen in these few days,_ Satori thought gravely. _If there is really need to do so for the sake of my sister, both me and Remilia will just have to do it ourselves. Even if there is a need to sacrifice our lives to ensure that Koishi and Flandre survive from Alice and her servants._

Satori nodded with that possible scenario, mentally readying for such possibility as both her and Koishi stared sadly at the door's label quietly. The atmosphere was just too eerie and depressing for any more conversation to start.

* * *

"Flan. Flan," a soothing voice called out. "My dear, wake up,"

The first thing Flandre registered in her mind was black vision. She struggled to open her eyes as she felt her body slowly switching to awake mode, regaining their energy and starting to work more actively.

The first sight she saw was Koishi smiling with affection and warmth at her. Flandre was sleeping at Koishi's lap. On the corner of her eyes, she saw that Koishi was leaning against a wooden bench. They were probably in some garden or park.

"Finally, you are awake, sleepy head," Koishi said jokingly. "It's already evening. It's time to get back inside."

"Where are we?" Flandre asked as she slowly sat up.

Somehow she felt her body to be heavier than usual, particularly in the chest area.

"At our mansion's garden," Koshi replied. "You slept on my lap so you can rest from your day's work, remember?"

 _Work? Since when did I start working?_ Flandre thought as she scanned her surroundings.

To her relief, Flandre recognised the same Scarlet Devil Mansion's garden that she lived in. It was the exact same building, surrounded by the high concrete brown walls. The mansion and the huge grilled metal entrance have no change to them too.

But not everything was completely the same from what Flandre have with her current knowledge.

She looked at Koishi when she noticed something very different about her best friend.

 _Her chest… Since when did they became so big?_ Flandre thought, her mind becoming confused. _Those must be the same size as that Yukari or even bigger._

Other than Koishi abnormally huge protruding chest, she also no longer have the figure of a 10-year-old girl. Instead, she looked like she was in her teens, around 17 or so. She still wears her hat with the yellow ribbons, with her wavy green-greyish hair still of the same length. The dress she was wearing was still the same as she always did, the yellow shirt with lightly flowery-decorated green skirt.

The vampire was suddenly hit by a sense of panic, and looked around herself.

She too have changed a lot.

Similar to Koishi, Flandre no longer have the figure of a 10-year-old. Her age seemed to be around the same as Koishi, about 17 years old. She no longer wears her pink mob cap. Instead her blond hair became longer to her waist and was tied in twintails. She was also wearing the same red dress, but with a cut-out at the top, revealing the cleavage from her big mature chest, being about 1 or 2 sizes smaller than Koishi.

 _No wonder I felt myself being heavier than normal. It must be this grown body that I not use to yet,_ Flandre thought, unsure of how she felt about her new body.

Koishi, realising Flandre's internal predicament, asked worriedly, "What's wrong, dear? Is there something strange among us?"

"Um... well, yeah," Flandre answered nervously. "Why do we look like teenagers? And why are you calling me 'dear' and Flan, Koishi- _chan_?"

Koishi placed her hand on her mouth to hide her laughter. When she settled down, she replied, "Sorry, it's been a long time I heard you address me that way. Nowadays, you just call me Shi- _chan_."

 _Wait a minute. I did call her that right before I hit the water,_ Flandre recalled. _Since when it become normal between both of us?_

Koishi paused before giving Flandre an extremely concerned look, "As to why we look a few years older, Eirin and Reisen have our body to grow to this age with her medicine, remember? They were able to successfully make a solution that allow us youkai or those that don't age like you to grow older until our desired age."

This new information stunned Flandre, and left the vampire speechless for a while.

Flandre realised that they were extremely close. In fact, so close that Flandre could feel Koishi's breath on her face. She quickly sat away to the other side of the bench, feeling very awkward at the situation she was suddenly thrown in.

But Koishi was still clueless. She moved forward halfway across the bench. She became more worried too, "What's wrong, Flan? You seriously did not hit your head or something?"

"I don't know. Um… may I ask how did we became this close in our relationship?" Flandre asked, praying silently that it was not true.

Koishi hesitantly answered, "That is because after a few months we finished school, you confessed your feelings to me and we started dating for 3 years. See this ring in your hand and mine?"

Flandre looked at Koishi's right hand and noticed a silver ring on her index finger. Flandre raised her own and noticed the same ring on her index finger too. Her eyes instantly opened up big with shocked. She felt her hand shaking violently too.

 _This can't be happening._ Flandre thought. _Am I really alive?_

Flandre slowly raised her other hand and pinched her cheeks. She felt the sensation from them.

 _So, I am alive and I am not in heaven either. So this is truly happening right in front of me._

"S-Shi _-chan_?" Flandre blurted out.

"Yes, Flan?" Koishi asked.

"So this means we are married. For real?" Flandre nervously asked.

Koishi sighed, slowly starting to accept whatever Flandre was trying to play at. "Yes, this is real. I am your wife of 10 years."

Flandre was so stunned and surprised that she felt a headache hitting her instantly and she fell off the bench from the shock before passing out on the spot.

* * *

 **A/N: Just something to note.**

 **Firstly, the summary have been change. The genres have also change from Friendship and Drama to Romance and Mystery to better reflect what have been happening in the story thus far.**

 **And here is where I can say the first arc have ended. Never expected to keep on writing a story up to this point since this is my first ever.**

 **With that, have a nice day.**

 **~Youmu2hu**


	10. Empty Chapter

**_A/N: I am extremely sorry for the lack of updates!_**

 **My internet have not been available since 2 weeks ago as my family are still changing the internet providers (due to some things we are not happy with the old one). Thus, I am only able to use the PC/LAN gaming shops to access the internet.**

 **Even with that, I am still not done yet since I have only started going to this shop last week. But no worries, I'm writing this just to let you know that I am still alive and writing this... that's all. Until I get that internet at home soon, I'll just resort to going to the gaming shop as much as possible for now.**

 **And to avoid going against rules on chapters, here's a small preview of this chapter. I wrote 3 times longer than this already though.**

 **DIsCLAIMER: They are subjected to further editing if needed. Since I already see some bits of mistakes with this one.**

* * *

 **EDIT: The preview have been removed. The next one have become chapter 10.**


	11. NSF Day 1: A Disparate Household

**A/N:** **Wow... writer's block for 1 month. Somehow I lost the will to continue as soon as I ended that previous chapter.**

 **Mere words cannot describe how grateful I am to 9/10 of u who are still following/favoriting this story. This hope gives me the motivation to move on.**

 **HOWEVER, tomorrow I have to leave home because my country have a sort of conscription called National Service. That means I won't be home except Saturdays till Sunday afternoon to write.**

 **So my updates will be inconsistent from now on, probably 1-1.5 months but I hope it to be done in 2 weeks! But I will DEFINITELY keep my promise that I will finish this like what I said last time, no matter how long it takes. I just ask from you readers for your patience, that's all.**

 **Anyway, time to for the next arc. NSF stands for the New Scarlet Family. Blame the site for not allowing more characters for me to name the chapter.**

 **With that, have a nice day,**

 **~Youmu2hu**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: NSF Day 1: A Disparate Household**

 _"Onee-chan, Onee-chan," Flandre called out excitedly, tugging her sister's sleeves._

 _"Yes, Flandre? What do you want?" Remilia asked, giving her sister a smile that twitched momentarily at the sides._

 _The 2 vampires were at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's balcony having a tea break with 2 other residents. One of it was Sakuya Izayoi who was standing beside her mistress. The other was Flandre Scarlet, her younger sister._

 _Flandre was reading a fictional book taken from which she got from Sakuya since the vampire have asked for some. Remilia was having a break from her stress, as she have been thinking about the ongoing conflict she have to deal with the Witch of Death, Alice Margatroid._

 _The younger vampire was not interested with what was happening around her and also the human war called World War II. At that time, her sister was becoming quite desperate to find ways to end the supernatural side of the war together with her ally from Japan, Satori Komeiji._

 _The mistress usually asked Sakuya to give punishment on the spot if someone interrupted her relaxation for something unrelated. But for her sister, it was an exception despite the energy she needed to remain sane._

 _Flandre pointed to a certain page of the book she was reading, "What word does this mean?"_

 _Remilia leaned towards her sister to get a better look at the word she was pointing at, "Marriage?"_

 _"Yes, Onee-sama," Flandre said, turning to her sister curiously. "I don't understand what that word mean even from the clues given in the story. Do you know it?"_

 _Remilia leaned on her chair, closing her eyes thinking how to answer her sister as simple as possible to make her sister's childish mind understand easily._

 _The mistress opened her eyes, "Marriage is something you promise with a special someone that you will be there for her always, in heart and soul. You always want to be with them everyday and they become part of your family, because you love them."_

 _"I see…" Flandre said, her expression turning serious as she went back to her reading._

 _Remilia turned to her companions and was about to continue her discussion when Flandre interrupted her again, "So like how you said to Satori-nee-san yesterday?"_

 _"Well uh…, maybe?" Remilia answered, unsure if that was the correct answer._

 _Sakuya held back their laughter by covering her mouths, but she let it go when she cannot take it anymore. It was rare for the Scarlet Devil to lose her strict demeanor and stumble over her words. She knew romance was one of her weaker topic to talk about. Remilia felt the heat crawling to her neck as the uncomfortable situation get to her mind._

 _"Ojou-sama, you should just admit that you do like that satori. After all, she have confess to you several times already. She is just waiting for an answer from you." Sakuya said between her laughs._

 _"Not you too, Sakuya. You know… that won't happen… for now… " Remilia could not keep up with her composure and instead looked away in pretentious irritation to hide her blushing face._

 _Flandre was clueless with what was going on, so instead she asked another question, "So how do you do it?"_

 _Sakuya seeing that Remilia was not going to answer anytime soon, answered for her, "You do it by proposing to that person. Just ask him or her whether he or she want to marry you."_

 _With that answer, Flandre's face lit up and jumped in enthusiasm and determination, "If that's the case, then I know who I want to propose to!"_

 _The whole balcony immediately became dead silent as residents of the mansion stared at her, wondering who the childish and innocent Diabolic Wave have in mind to consider someone special to her._

* * *

A white ceiling. Lying on something soft, probably a bed. There was a blanket over her body. A cool atmosphere.

This was what Flandre's mind registered as she woke up.

 _That's a weird dream I have. Did that actually occur to me before?_ Flandre thought as she slowly sat up.

Flandre scanned her surroundings, to figure out where she was.

The vampire was definitely in a bedroom. She was sitting on the right side of the queen-size bed meant for 2 people. On her right was 2 cupboards spanning the whole length of the room each with a body-length mirror on one of its 2 doors. On her left was a sliding door to a bathroom for the ones who slept and lived here. At some distance away from the bed in front was the door leading outside.

 _A typical youkai room,_ Flandre concluded. _Plain, and no need for unnecessary human items and decorations._

Flandre stood up from the bed and walked around the room. She opened one of the cupboards and looked inside. She realised that the clothes inside were all hers as far as she could tell, from the similar designs that she always wore.

Flandre looked at herself, realising that she was in her teenage form. No wonder all her dresses in her cupboard were of larger sizes.

The vampire closed the cupboard and stared at herself with the body-length mirror sticking on the cupboard door. She turned her body around to get a better look on her back.

 _Interesting, I never knew that tying my hair in twintails looks better on me._

Flandre placed one hand on of her her dresses hanging in the cupboard, giving a throughout look. Then, she looked at what she was wearing.

There was a cut-out with the dress she was currently wearing. Same with most of the dresses, exposing the top part of the assets she have. And even with her longer and slender legs, the red miniskirt she was wearing was too short for her current taste. She concluded that the version of hers in this world probably started to have a taste to show off her pale skin at some point.

She let go of her hands which was twirling around her miniskirt as she came to realised her current situation.

 _I need to get out of here. It looks like I'm in my own future...Or am I in the past?_ the young vampire thought, recalling the events before she blacked out.

Flandre paused as she turned to the wall behind the bed, _Whatever the case, I need to get out of here first._ _Let's try breaking down this wall._

Flandre opened her right palm, preparing to shoot bullets through it.

The door suddenly opened behind her and called out a gentle and soft voice, "Oh… You are awake."

Flandre turned, ready to attack when she realised it was Koishi, in her teenage form.

"Um… yeah, I am… Shi- _chan_ ," Flandre said, as she dropped her attacking stance.

 _I'll just have to play along. Meanwhile, I need to find a way to get back._

Flandre cringed for a second at her thoughts. 16 years of missing memories may be short for a vampire, but with the 16 years where all her important parts of her life missing and did not actually experience, it was something even for Flandre to be quite concern about.

Koishi walked up to her, her face full of worry.

"You sure? You looked as if you were hit by something in the head when you blacked out earlier."

Flandre realised that Koishi's face was extremely close to hers, so she quickly took a step backward and darted her eyes away from the satori. "Yeah… yeah I am… I was just teasing you but it got out of hand… so I'm sorry to worry you. But I am _really_ fine now."

Koishi, no longer seeing anything off about Flandre, decided to drop the subject. She smiled, this time with more relieved but it looked forced, as if she did it just to please her wife, which the latter catches it immediately but makes no comment on it.

"Good. Let's get down to dinner then. I just finish setting it up. The kids are waiting," Koishi offered her hand.

 _Kids? We already have children?_ Flandre's eyes showed more amazement and excitement rather than surprise. _That's cool! Maybe I can have more toys and playmate for me to play with!_

Flandre looked at Koishi's hand for a while before reluctantly took it, and she felt her face heating up as she did that. Koishi, oblivious to her mate's reaction, pulled her towards the door as they head outside to the dining room.

* * *

 _Not too bad so far… I think,_ Flandre thought to reassure herself as she continued eating her dinner.

There was a series of awkward and suspicious moments when Flandre and Koishi was heading to the dining room.

First thing was when her 'children' the moment they got out of the room. There were 4 of them and all girls. Before Flandre could prepare for it, they went to jump and dogpiled on her, causing the vampire to lose her balance and fell. But with 4 youkai on top of her, it was an impossible struggle to get up with 4 energetic and young youkais on top of her. The children were relieved that there was nothing wrong with their mother.

"Shi- _chan_ , help me please," Flandre's eyes looked at her wife pleadingly.

"Let me think," Koishi said, as she tapped a finger on her chin a few times, suppressing a grin. "I think not,"

Flandre grumbled as her wife chuckled softly with the scene of her children using her wife as a play toy.

The children immediately stood up after a few minutes of hugs and dogpiling and stood in front of Flandre, lining up in a neat single row and stood in attention as if it was a military parade.

"Flan- _oka-sama_ , we are ready," the eldest child said in a formal manner.

 _Flan-oka-sama? That's… way too formal,_ Flandre thought as she straightened up her dress.

Flandre stood silently and uncomfortably, before realising that they were waiting for her to say something to them.

"Um… go to the dining room?"

The children turned briefly and walked away from them, in 1 neat straight line.

 _Phew… that was ok, I think. But still, for them to walk like that..._

Flandre shooked her head and continue walking with Koishi, following their children behind.

That was Situation Number 1.

As they head to the dining room, Koishi discussed with Flandre on certain topics of school, a report of how their daughters were doing. Flandre barely scrape through all of what she said about exams and lessons their daughter were getting from their school. But the worst of all was not knowing their daughter's names. Of course these raised some questions from her wife but Flandre covered it up quickly though she was not sure if Koishi was totally convinced.

 _So the eldest is Noriko as in 'exemplar child', befitting of the eldest, while the youngest being Hitomi, meaning 'pupil' referring to the eye,_ Flandre thought as she make sure she remember their names.

That was Situation Number 2.

Lastly was when they reached the dining room. The dining room consisted of a big round table with a red and black cover on top of it. The rest of the room have several doors and windows, with a few flower decorations at the corners. Their daughters were standing upright with respect and attention besides their respective seats with the eldest beside Flandre while the youngest besides Koishi.

Koishi walked to her seat and waited for Flandre to go to hers, which was right close beside hers. Flandre wondered if she should say anything like earlier.

Flandre decided to sit first, all of them immediately sat on theirs. Flandre also assumed it was the same thing with eating. And it was, she said the recital before eating a meal which they did together, before they began to eat. This led to Koishi glancing at Flandre's direction several times.

"Just the after-effects of blacking out probably," Flandre said reassuringly.

Other than the clinking of metal cutleries and plates, silence immediately came to the table.

That was Situation Number 3.

* * *

That was how Flandre arrived to this situation. And to add to her misery, the vampire came to realise that she could not speak up to relieve her stress of having fun at all. It was considered rude so it seemed.

"Um… Flan- _oka-sama_?" the eldest child beside her called.

"Yes, Nori- _chan_?" Flandre answered, knowing that was the nickname given to her after hearing it from Koishi.

Noriko was a lot like Flandre as far she could tell. She have an appearance of a human girl of 10 years, almost like on her original form. She have Koishi's dark green eyes and Flandre's blond hair and crystal wings. However, she did not wear any hat or cap on top of her head, instead tying her hair in a ponytail that reached to her chest level. Her dress designs were similar to her mother too, but with additional frills. On the bottom of her skirt they were frills, and on her short sleeves they were too. The whole middle of her dress are full of it with 4 orange ribbons acting like buttons to tie them together. There was a rectangular cut around her collarbone, showing the resemblance of the very pale skin she got from her vampire mother.

Noriko paused and took a deep breath. Her fingers twirling around as she said nervously, "I want to ask permission from you about something I wish to do tomorrow."

There was a pause before Noriko slightly lowered her head to bow, "I want to go out shopping with Naoki- _san_. Just the 2 of us. It will just be about an hour or 2 after lunch tomorrow."

Her desperate eyes and slight shaking of her body made Flandre hesitate to answer immediately. Like it was something that the future Flandre did not like to hear about from her own daughter.

Flandre leaned towards Koishi, whispering, "Who's Naoki? Do we have any plans tomorrow?"

If that question was something strange of the current Flandre, Koishi did not show it, "Naoki is Yamame- _chan_ 's only daughter. They are best friends in school. And it should be fine with our plans, since we are going to see them during our usual grocery shopping anyway."

 _Yamame have a daughter too? I wonder if it's Parsee who she end up with. Noaki huh... as in 'docile tree'. That's quite a pretty name for a tree for me to burn… no, that's Yamame's child. I can't use her as a target!_

 _Damn, this lack of fun are beginning to make me think of those things. Flandre, focus._

The vampire shook her head to get the thoughts get out of her head and leaned her body towards Noriko and nodded, "Yes, you may go out with her. Just the 2 of you."

For a few seconds, Noriko remained absolute quiet. 3 seconds later, her eyes started to water and she cried immediately. Right in front of her 2 mothers. She instantly hugged her vampire mother, reaching up to her neck since Flandre was seating on her chair, for just for a short moment and let go, her tears already disappeared as fast as she have cried.

Noriko stood and bowed her head deeply, "I promise you that I will do anything for you to make up for this. I love you, Flandre- _oka-sama_!"

Flandre was shocked with those words she heard. Why must allowing her daughter to go out with her best friend was a huge deal to her? Isn't it natural to allow her daughter since she was already old enough to do so?

Her eldest daughter then continued eating. But Flandre realised the new air of enthusiasm and motivation that she lacked all the time earlier since Flandre seen her. Noriko started to smile as she ate.

When the vampire turned to her wife, she realised her wife was confused which she tried to hide quickly but failed. "Is there anything wrong?" Flandre asked.

"Normally you don't let her go out on her own and even if you do, you will ask her a lot of questions,"

"I guess… it's best to slowly let her have what she wants as she is growing along the way,"

Instantly, Koishi smiled. But her smile that Flandre felt at the moment was much more sincere and affectionate than what she saw earlier. It was as if something heavy was lifted off the satori's shoulders.

"Good to hear that. Oh, I'm done," Koishi spoke, looking at her plate, as she have finished first whereas the rest were only half done. "I'll go wash the dishes while you go to sleep first? Since today you did a lot during your work."

"Yeah, I will." Flandre said, and returned the smile with an amused and nostalgic look. _She still eat very quickly like she always did in her younger form._

 _I forgot to ask her._ _Just what kind of job did I take in this timeline? I hope it's something that involve shooting and fighting… not some boring office job. I am not that unlucky in this world, right? Right?_

Koishi left her seat, leaving Flandre to her thoughts and daughters as they continued eating. Flandre sighed, wondering if she have to stay this way in this world. Her hands was itching to play for the whole evening. She found herself hard to maintain her strict and serious composure which she was barely scraping by.

Flandre quickly finished her food and placed the plates at the sink in the kitchen, leaving Koishi to wash for her. They smiled for a moment at each other before Flandre walked out.

 _I need to find a way to return to my world quickly,_ Flandre thought. _It's going to be a while before anyone will become suspicious of me and realise I was not the current Flandre they all know._

* * *

 _This is unexpected. Somehow I know how to go about this mansion,_ Flandre thought.

Flandre wished to reach to the bedroom, but she was surprised that she knew where she was going. The place seemed familiar to her, even though the interior design of the house was unrecognisable.

She came to a corridor which have windows on one side while several doors on the others side leading to their respective rooms. As she walked, she glanced at the windows.

 _Wait a minute, this is the mansion where I live!_

She saw the usual mansion's garden that was located at its front, and the entrance gate. No wonder she knew her way. She was in her own mansion that she always lived.

The place may looked different inside in terms of design but the pathway remained mostly the same. Probably their bedroom was one of the rooms they never used, which was why she thought she was at a different place.

The Diabolic Wave reached her destination and greeted with the soon-to-be-familiar room. She immediately felt her body exhaustion instantly as the mental struggle she have to hold back of not doing what she always love to do kicks in.

Flandre smiled playfully at the mere thought of it.

The vampire crouched for a second, then jumped on the bed, causing the pillow and the mattress to bounce. She hugged her pillow and rolled around like a dog, enjoying the comforts on the soft material.

Then, she stopped rolling and closed her eyes momentarily, continue to enjoy her short moment she would get as much as possible.

 _Tomorrow, when I go out with Koishi, I will find out ways to get out of here. This world is no fun at all. Having to act like a parent. No time for me to play at all even though I have children in the mansion._

The vampire moved her body comfortably on the bed on one, placing the blanket over her.

 _I wonder what happen to the younger me at the moment? I hope I didn't die after taking that fatal hit into the lake._

Then, came the face of her lover, _I miss her already. Don't worry, Koishi-chan. I'll definitely return to you and play soon._

Flandre felt her heavy eyes slowly closing as she went into deep sleep. Unknowingly, she went into another dreamland that involved her again.


End file.
